MANILA: While admitting he had no personal knowledge that Vice President Sara Duterte hired a person to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc insisted that the evidence they gathered linked her to it.
At the continuation of his cross-examination during Duterte’s impeachment trial on Tuesday (July 14), defence lawyer Mark Vinluan pressed Lotoc on whether he had personal knowledge that Duterte had contracted someone to kill the president, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
“We do believe that the Vice President had contracted [someone], but I don’t have personal knowledge, if that is the personal knowledge you want to know about. But we do believe this based on the evidence that we’ve gathered and based on our investigation,” Lotoc said.
As head of the NBI’s Crime Division at the time, the witness led the investigation into Duterte’s assassination threats made during an online media briefing on Nov 23, 2024.
Duterte’s kill remark was included in the fourth article of impeachment filed against her.
‘This is not a college debate’
At one point during the cross-examination, presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero reminded the defense and prosecution counsels that they were not in a “college debate” as they quarreled over Duterte’s kill remark.
This happened when Vinluan initially asked Lotoc whether Duterte’s corruption allegations against certain individuals mentioned in the same video were “true and happened in real life.”
“As to the existence of those utterances, yes, sir,” Lotoc answered.
“So you just admitted that the congressmen are all corrupt,” Vinluan remarked.
Private prosecutor Amando Ligutan objected to the “foul side remark,” saying Vinluan was “twisting the answer of the witness.”
Escudero advised the lawyers to settle down and directed the witness to provide complete and specific answers to avoid any misinterpretation.
Lotoc confirmed the “existence of Duterte’s utterances” in the video, but added he had no personal knowledge of whether all her allegations actually happened.
“In the same way, you also don’t have personal knowledge that Vice President Sara contracted an assassin,” Vinluan said.
The defense lawyer stopped Lotoc when the latter was about to point to Duterte’s own remarks in the video.
“That’s answerable by yes or no,” Vinluan said.
When Ligutan retorted that the witness was already answering the question, Escudero intervened again.
“Counsel, counsel, kindly settle down. This is not a college debate,” the presiding officer said, directing the witness to answer Vinluan’s question.
Lotoc complied with the presiding officer and answered in the affirmative.
“That utterance made by the Vice President that she contracted a person? I do believe that, sir, because of the pieces of evidence that we’ve gathered, sir,” the NBI agent stressed.
Later in the proceedings, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian inquired about the evidence that Duterte was capable of carrying out her threats.
“Well, for one, she is the vice president of the Republic of the Philippines,” Lotoc said.
Gatchalian, however, argued that: “Just because you are the Vice President doesn’t mean you have the capability to do that.”
After Lotoc agreed, the Senate chief asked again what evidence they had gathered against the Vice President.
At this point, the witness mentioned the case against Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration’s war on drugs.
"We all know the background that her father, who was a former president, is currently facing a case before the ICC due to alleged extrajudicial killings, among others.
"So we considered that, indeed, being in that situation, she has the capability, aside from the fact that she is the Vice President," the witness said in Filipino. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
