MANILA, Philippines – National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official Jeremy Lotoc on Tuesday told the Senate impeachment court that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) was among the factors considered in assessing Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged capability to carry out threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
During the fifth day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Lotoc said investigators factored in the vice president’s relationship to the former president and his pending ICC case over alleged extrajudicial killings when evaluating whether she had the capability to execute the threats she allegedly made during a November 2024 online press briefing.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, Lotoc acknowledged he had no personal knowledge that Duterte had contracted someone to kill the president or the other targets, but maintained that the evidence the NBI gathered linked her to such a plot.
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The NBI official also asserted that typographical errors and document inconsistencies pointed out by the defense did not alter the NBI’s findings that Duterte committed grave threats and inciting to sedition. FEATURED STORIES
