MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutors on Tuesday presented their first witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte as the Senate impeachment court began hearing evidence on allegations that she issued grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung testified before the Senate impeachment court and authenticated video recordings and digital evidence related to Duterte’s public statements that form part of Article IV of the impeachment complaint.
House prosecutors said they chose to begin with Article IV, which accuses Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution through alleged grave threats and an alleged plot to assassinate Marcos, the First Lady and Romualdez.
In his opening statement, prosecutor and Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor described the charge as the strongest among the four articles of impeachment filed against the Vice President.
During the proceedings, prosecutors played portions of Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024, online press conference, in which she stated that she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, Araneta-Marcos and Romualdez if she were assassinated. Prosecutors also presented a video from an Oct. 18, 2024, press conference in which Duterte spoke about harming the President and exhuming the remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Calilung testified that the NBI collected, preserved and authenticated the videos as part of its investigation.
Private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan said the recordings were presented not only to establish the content of Duterte’s statements but also to demonstrate intent and state of mind.
Defense lawyers repeatedly objected to the testimony and evidence, questioning Calilung’s participation in the case and challenging the admissibility and completeness of the video recordings.
Defense lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa argued that Calilung was not identified in the original complaints that led to the impeachment proceedings and cited a pending petition before the Supreme Court questioning the prosecution’s authority to present evidence outside the original complaints.
Prosecutors responded that Calilung had been properly identified in pretrial submissions and that the evidence complied with impeachment court procedures.
Presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero denied the defense motion to disqualify the witness, ruling that prosecutors may present evidence disclosed during pretrial proceedings even if it was not specifically identified in the original complaint.
The defense also objected to the presentation of selected excerpts from Duterte’s Nov. 23 press conference, arguing that the entire two-hour-and-26-minute recording should be reviewed to provide context. Escudero allowed the excerpts to be presented and said the defense could introduce the complete recording during cross-examination.
Several senator-judges also questioned the prosecution’s theory of the case. Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked whether the videos alone established impeachable conduct, noting that the recordings did not show that Duterte had actually hired an assassin.
Ligutan acknowledged that the videos did not conclusively prove such an arrangement but argued that they formed part of a broader pattern of statements that demonstrated intent.
The proceedings took another turn when private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan announced that the prosecution intends to ask the Senate impeachment court to compel Duterte to testify as a hostile witness.
“One of the key witnesses, albeit hostile, would be the Vice President,” Kapunan told the court.
Escudero said he would defer ruling on the request until prosecutors formally file a motion. He noted that Senate impeachment rules do not require a respondent to personally attend hearings as long as legal counsel is present.
Duterte did not attend Tuesday’s hearing but arrived at the Senate complex earlier in the day to meet with her legal team.
Before the meeting, she told reporters, “In this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed.”
Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said Duterte’s absence was due to prior commitments and not an attempt to avoid the proceedings. He said she would appear if her legal team advised her to do so.
The Senate has allocated 11 trial days for the presentation of evidence under Article IV as the impeachment court continues to hear the case against the Vice President.
