With or without contract to kill, VP made impeachable offense – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — Whether or not Vice President Sara Duterte actually executed a contract with an assassin to kill high-ranking officials, the prosecution panel believes that her statements already constituted an impeachable offense, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora said on Wednesday.

In a press briefing after the trial, Zamora was asked about the relevance of a possible contract between Duterte and the person she said she had tapped to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in case she herself gets killed, in tackling Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment.

In response, Zamora said the prosecution’s stand is that the utterances alone constitute impeachable offenses.

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“The allegation that there was an impeachable offense? Yes, contract or no contract, it is our position that her utterances made on November 23, 2024 constitute impeachable offenses of betrayal of public trust, high crimes, and culpable violation of the Constitution,” Zamora, a member of the House prosecution team, said.

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READ: Sara Duterte trial: Witness admits no direct knowledge of alleged hitman

Zamora also reminded the public that the case against Duterte is about impeachable offenses, and is therefore not criminal in nature—which means the criminal aspect and elements are not relevant to ruling on the case.

“Without going to the merits of the case, without going too much into their evidence or the prosecution’s evidence, maybe at the end of the day, we should remember that we are not prosecuting a criminal case. We are not prosecuting based on grave threats; this is not a criminal case where you need to prove the elements of a crime,” she said.

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

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“But what are we prosecuting here? It’s the impeachable offenses of betrayal of public trust, high crimes, and culpable violation of the Constitution, those are the three offenses related to the grave threats under Article IV. So remember that there are no specific elements related to this,” she added.

Duterte’s supporters and allies have questioned the specific allegation that she made grave threats, as they claimed that there is no proof that the Vice President contracted a killer to assassinate the Marcos couple and Romualdez.

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During the third day of the trial, a portion of the defense’s cross-examination of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung focused on questions whether he had personal knowledge of who the alleged hitman was that Duterte had supposedly hired.

According to Calilung, he only learned of Duterte’s alleged threats after watching an online media briefing on November 23, 2024, during which she made the remarks.

However, when later asked about the same topic by Senator-judge Bam Aquino, the witness clarified that he had no personal knowledge of the alleged assassin because he was only tasked with investigating the video.

Calilung, a digital forensic expert, was presented by the prosecution team on Tuesday as he was part of the NBI Cybercrime Division team that investigated Duterte’s kill remarks.

Aside from this, the defense also presented a video clip showing Office of the Vice President chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, during the same press briefing held by Duterte in November 2024. In the clip, Lopez was complaining about the contempt order and detention penalty imposed against her by the House of Representatives.

Lopez is a key figure for the grounds stated under Article IV, as it was in the context of her detention at the House premises that Duterte addressed the media in an online briefing

Lopez was detained after being cited for contempt for supposedly committing undue interference during House committee on good government and public accountability’s investigation of the alleged confidential fund misuse within Duterte’s offices.

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As she was infuriated over Lopez’s detention and subsequent attempts to transfer her, Duterte badmouthed the Marcos couple and Romualdez. At one point, Duterte was asked if she was concerned about her security; she replied by urging people not to worry since she had contracted someone to kill the three if she herself were killed. /cb