Defense’s use of VP Duterte’s threat video amounts to confession

MANILA, Philippines — The defense’s decision to use the prosecution’s marked video of Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged threats not only acknowledged its authenticity but also amounted to a confession that she made the recorded statements.

In a statement on Thursday, private prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan argued that the defense could no longer claim that the recording had been tampered with, spliced, or generated using artificial intelligence after referring to it during its own presentation.

“So with the video of the vice president, where she said, ‘I’ve hired an assassin,’ it already has a marking, Exhibit P-4-10, which was also used,” Kapunan noted in Filipino.

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Kapunan distinguished between merely acknowledging the existence of the recording and repeatedly explaining why the statements were made.

“The experts are saying it: This is not only an implied admission, but a confession,” she said.

“But I’ll say more about that: That’s not only an admission, but that’s a confession,” Kapunan stressed.

“What does that mean? It’s a confession in which she said it all,” she added.

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The recording became central to the fourth article of impeachment, which accuses Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes over remarks concerning President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

“Although they have their own video, our video was what the defense used. So they can’t question it — that it was tampered with, spliced, used artificial intelligence, etc. That’s already admitted,” she said.

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An NBI technical witness had earlier testified on the source, chain of custody and authenticity of the recording before a second witness discussed its contents and the agency’s resulting investigation.

READ: Ex-NBI chief: ‘Oplan Romanov’ a threat vs Marcoses, not VP Duterte

“Why is there a need to prove it when the defense of the vice president impliedly admitted that these statements were uttered?” Kapunan said.

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Duterte made his remarks in a videotaped Nov. 23, 2024, online news conference, after which she denied that they constituted a grave threat and characterized them as a response to a supposed danger to her own life. /atm