Metro Manila, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that the videos of Vice President Sara Duterte’s “kill remarks” and other threats against the president are authentic and are neither edited, spliced, nor generated by artificial intelligence.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag affirmed the authenticity of the video evidence during the last day of Duterte’s impeachment hearing with the House justice committee on Wednesday, April 29.
“That is authenticated,” he said, pertaining to the videos. “It has already been discussed in the counter-affidavit na sinubmit po ni Vice President Duterte doon sa kaso sa DOJ (Department of Justice). Na-raise na po ‘yang mga issue na ‘yan.”
[Translation: It has already been discussed in the counter-affidavit submitted by Vice President Duterte in the case at the DOJ. Those issues have been raised.]
During the hearing, Rep. Paolo Henry Marcoleta attempted to show the panel a “more complete” copy of the video to add context as to why Duterte made threats against the chief executive, his wife, and first cousin Rep. Martin Romualdez.
However, House panel chairperson Rep. Jinky Luistro reminded Marcoleta that the videos discussed in the hearing are all authenticated submissions by the NBI.
“We are bound by the rules to stick to what was submitted to us,” she said.
Other representatives also noted that while some of Duterte’s threats were “conditional” in the sense that something has to happen to the vice president first, it was still a threat otherwise.
“There is no question whether or not she uttered those threats because it is very clear that she did,” Rep. Leila De Lima said later on in the hearing summary, citing the bureau’s report.
“In fact, masasabi natin na ang pinaka-malakas na ebidensya sa impeachment proceedings na ito ay si Vice President Sara. Narinig natin mga sinabi at inasal, hindi niya it tinangi o binawi kailanman,” she added.
[Translate: In fact, we can say that the strongest evidence in these impeachment proceedings is Vice President Sara. We have heard and seen what she said and did, she never denied it or retracted it.]
The videos discussed stem from an incident early in 2024 where Duterte lashed out and publicly announced that she hired a hitman to go after Marcos, his wife, and cousin if something happens to her.
Others include snippets from her public press cons where she admits to imagining beheading the president and assigning herself as a “designated survivor” while explaining that she will not be attending the State of the Nation Address.
Duterte has since received an NBI complaint and is being investigated for grave threats and violation of the anti-terrorism act.
