Padilla lashes out at critics over Sara Duterte's kill remark video

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Robin Padilla hit back on Thursday at those criticizing him for asking for an affidavit from a person who recorded Vice President Sara Duterte’s threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Ibang klase talaga ang mga bayaran kahit alam nila ang katotohanan ay ililigaw ninyo ang mga tao [Paid trolls are really something else. Even if they know the truth, they will still mislead people],” Padilla wrote on Facebook.

“Wag ako ang kuwestiyunin niyo sa mass media. Kuwestiyonin niyo ang bagong graduate hindi ang matanda na sa mass media. Goodness…[Don’t question me in the mass media. Question the new graduates, not someone who has been in mass media for a long time. Goodness…],” he also said.

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“You call yourselves experts. When did you enter the media industry? And to my fellow members of the media—not all of you—where is your duty to the public to provide the correct information and prevent people from being misled? Passion and love for the job should never be compromised,” Padilla said in Filipino.

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Padilla made the statement a day after asking a prosecution witness, senior National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent John Mark Calilung, about the person who recorded the vice president’s threat to kill Marcos and wife Liza, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez during an online media briefing on November 23, 2024.

Calilung was part of the NBI team that investigated the alleged assassination threat.

READ: Duterte’s threats probed sans complaint due to NBI mandate – Calilung

“Pero meron po kayong pagkakataon ba na nakausap nyo yung tao at nagbigay sya ng affidavit?” Padilla asked during the third day of the impeachment trial of Duterte on  Wednesday.

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(But did you ever have the chance to speak with the person and did they provide an affidavit?)

“May I clarify, Your Honor, who exactly you are referring to?” Calilung said partly in Filipino.

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When Padilla clarified that he was referring to the person who recorded the media briefing, the witness answered that he was the one who screen-recorded it.

“The video itself, sir, is publicly available that’s why I performed the recording, sir,” Calilung further said.

In his Facebook post, Padilla explained the difference between raw and recorded videos.

Even Zoom, he said, can record any conversation, whether private or live.

“The host can do a livestream and record it. Zoom has a built-in recording feature. That is what is called the original copy—the recording made by whoever conducted the Zoom meeting or interview,” the senator pointed out, speaking mostly in Filipino.

A copy taken from a live feed, on the other hand, is called a duplicate, which he said can be manipulated.

“The original recorded file from the person who created the Zoom meeting is the raw file, and it is guaranteed to be free from manipulation. That is what should be authenticated, not a copy that was merely taken from the internet,” Padilla further explained in Filipino. /jpv

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NOTE: The English translations in the article were AI-generated