An assassin was engaged to carry out Vice President Sara Duterte’s televised threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and members of his family, the National Bureau of Investigation confirmed before the House committee on justice Wednesday.
NBI director Melvin Matibag described the threat as “serious,” telling lawmakers: “Any threat against the President, and for that matter against any official, we take it seriously. And we investigate.” He added that investigators already have leads and are actively monitoring suspects. “We have some personalities that are under surveillance, and we are already tailing them. We are zeroing in on several individuals already,” Matibag said.
Senior NBI agent Jeremy Lotoc made the confirmation on the assassin during questioning by Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno. “Our investigation is ongoing, but there are people that have already been spoken to. There is an assassin,” Lotoc said.
The hearing centered on Duterte’s November 23, 2024 livestreamed outburst, in which she threatened the lives of President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and then House speaker Martin Romualdez. The committee screened the footage during the session, which the NBI also subjected to digital authentication.
Agent John Mark Calilung explained the verification process to lawmakers. “The authentication is verifying that the video is the same and true recording of what transpired. We are ensuring that it is not edited, spliced or AI (artificial intelligence)-generated,” he said. The process involved coordination with Meta Platforms to preserve the original URL, a screen recording of the livestream, and hash value computation. “The hash value calculation is like a fingerprint of digital file. If the video is edited, the hash value will change,” Calilung said.
Lotoc’s four-man team subpoenaed Duterte twice during the investigation, but she failed to appear on both occasions, citing ongoing House proceedings. In the Vice President’s second written response through her lawyers, they denied that she had made any threats against the President, the First Lady, and Romualdez.
The NBI team has recommended one count of inciting to sedition and three counts of grave threats be filed against the Vice President. The case remains with the Department of Justice. “There is already a resolution but is currently pending review with the division chief, which will then be transmitted to the Prosecutor General,” DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez said.
Matibag also disclosed that Duterte visited the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Taguig on two separate occasions, attempting to meet self-confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga — contradicting her claims that no such visits occurred. “We have established that on two occasions, VP Duterte visited the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Taguig, initially trying to visit Ramil Madriaga but we were informed by Madriaga that he didn’t want it, he didn’t want to face her,” Matibag said. On the same visits, Duterte also met with former Negros Oriental congressman Arnie Teves. Shortly after, Madriaga allegedly received death threats inside the facility.
House senior deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, who endorsed the impeachment complaint, said the recorded threats “are one of the most serious, if not the most serious, grounds for impeaching her.” House Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor likewise called the Vice President’s public statements impeachable offenses, including her “designated survivor” remark.
House justice committee chair and Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro argued that Duterte cannot shield herself from financial scrutiny under bank secrecy laws, asserting that constitutional demands for public accountability take precedence in an impeachment proceeding.
