NBI completes probe on Sara’s kill remarks vs Marcoses, Romualdez

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THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has completed its investigation into the alleged assassination threat of Vice President Sara Duterte against President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, in a briefing in Malacañang, said the NBI has submitted its recommendations but did not provide details of the agency’s findings.

Fadullon said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Prosecution Services (NPS) will review the NBI report and assess if there is sufficient evidence to build a case against the Vice President.

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“Depending on the outcome (of the review), we will be able to make a recommendation whether to have it considered filed already before the department and/or to return it to the NBI if there’s a need to build up the case further and add to the evidence that they have,” Fadullon said.

Duterte was investigated for alleged grave threats about the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and possible violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 following her alleged kill order against the Marcoses and Romualdez.

During an online briefing in November 2024, Duterte told reporters that she had contracted a hitman to kill the First Couple and the Speaker if something bad happened to her.

Malacañang viewed her remarks as an active threat to the President, while the National Security Council (NSC) said it could be considered a national security threat.

Duterte later said her statement should not be taken as an active threat but as a hypothetical scenario.

The Vice President called for the midnight press briefing after a committee of the House of Representatives ordered the transfer of her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, from the House detention facility to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

Lopez was cited in contempt for her supposed “undue interference” in the committee’s probe on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) use of confidential funds.

Duterte skipped the hearings conducted by the NBI and simply sent a letter denying that she had threatened to kill the President and his wife.

She likewise pressed the NBI to also look into the alleged threats to her life.

Fadullon said the NBI and DOJ are working closely together with prosecutors to assess the evidence on hand.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, in the same briefing, said if the evaluation confirms there is sufficient ground to file a case against Duterte, a preliminary investigation will follow.

EJKs

As this developed, Vasquez said the DOJ would also evaluate the findings of a task force that was formed to look into the reported extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“They (task force’s report) will be submitted to us, the report, and then we will evaluate if that’s enough to initiate some investigation further,” he said.

He said the findings of the task force will also be used for a case build-up to determine the DOJ’s next action.

The older Duterte, during the inquiries conducted by the quad committee of the House of Representatives and a Senate blue ribbon sub-committee, had said he would assume responsibility for the EJKs in connection with his drug war campaign when he was the president.

BACK FROM JAPAN

Meanwhile, the Office of the Vice President yesterday said the Vice President returned to the country after a private trip to Japan last weekend.

“The Vice President visited Japan over the weekend and visited various OFW groups there during the course of her private trip,” the OVP said in a statement after photos of the younger Duterte with fellow Filipinos in Japan circulated online.

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The second highest elected official of the land is facing three impeachment complaints at the House of Representatives over her alleged misuse of hundreds of millions of confidential funds in both the OVP and the Department of Education when she was the concurrent education secretary.

The Vice President made the trip to Japan just days before the Iglesia ni Cristo’s (INC) “National Rally for Peace” at the Quirino Grandstand. – With Wendell Vigilia

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