Defense, senator-judges point out inconsistencies in NBI files

MANILA, Philippines — The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte and senator-judges pointed out inconsistencies in the dates of the affidavit and docket numbers in the files of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The concerned files were among those inquired into by the defense counsel Mark Vinluan during his cross-examination of the prosecution’s second witness, NBI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc.

READ: Witness: VP Duterte’s own threats prove she hired someone to kill Marcos

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In Jan. 30, 2025, the NBI first sent a transmittal letter to the  that they sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ), recommending the filing of three counts of grave threats and one count of inciting to sedition against Duterte following the agency’s fact-finding investigation on the alleged grave threats of the vice president to President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

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The said letter was also marked received by the DOJ on the same date.

In a document marked received by the NBI on Feb. 5, 2025, the DOJ issued a certification that said that the initial affidavit of investigation sent by the NBI were lacking attachments for the purposes of case build up before the DOJ can start a preliminary investigation.

In Feb. 10, 2025, the NBI said it complied with the needed attachments based on the recommendation of the DOJ for this to be docketed for case build up.

Along with the transmittal, Vinluan asked if an investigation data form (IDF) was also among the files sent to the DOJ.

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Lotoc answered in the affirmative saying that he believes so.

Lotoc said he merely instructed the agent assigned to the case and the executive officer that once complete, they can file their recommendation to the DOJ.

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However, Vinulan pointed out that the stamp from the DOJ shows 12-02-2025 (Feb. 12, 2025) but a manual pen marking converted the date of receipt of the IDF to Jan. 30, 2025.

The defense likewise stressed that the date on the certification in the bottom part of the IDF stated that the document was subscribed and sworn to on the 11th of February, 2025, noting the discrepancies to the changes made to the date of receipt of the document which was changed to Jan. 30.

Private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan registered his objections citing again that the witness has no personal knowledge on the filing of the document.

Asked by the presiding officer to explain the discrepancy or if he was personally aware of the discrepancy, Lotoc reiterated, “II cannot explain this, Your Honor. First of all, I am not the signatory, I was not the one who received this. I have no knowledge about this…”

Moreover, the defense also noted the inconsistencies in the docket number used for the documents. The IDF noted XVI-INV-25C-00048 while the Feb. 5 certification used XVI-INV-25C-00049 as its docket number.

There were also additional documents presented that were supposedly added to the initial affidavit of investigation which included affidavits signed by NBI Agent John Mark Calilung which had the dates Feb. 3 and Feb. 10.

The defense again argued that there were contrasting to the Feb. 5 certification.

Prior to this, Senator-Judge Imee Marcos likewise questioned the subpoena sent to Duterte which was dated Nov. 6, 2024.

READ: Imee, House prosecutor clash over witness subpoena ‘typo’ errors

Marcos questioned how it was possible that the vice president was subpoenaed by the NBI at an earlier date if the press conference where Duterte made the alleged threats were not until Nov. 23.

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Lotoc then clarified that the date was a typographical error, clarifying that the subpoena was actually issued on Nov. 26. /cb