The House prosecution panel said on Monday that it defers the verdict as to whether they are “winning” the grave threats Impeachment Article to the court’s discretion, satisfied that they have achieved what they had set out to do.

“Ultimately, that’s a decision that the Constitution has given to the Senate sitting as an impeachment court. So hindi po namin papangunahan. But if you will ask us, what we can say is we have achieved our goal so far,” Prosecution Spokesperson Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said during a press conference.

He recounted that their side has so far been able to see the impeachment trial through to execution, presented the video wherein Vice President Sara Duterte can be heard threatening the President’s life, and established its authenticity.

“First, diba, (we) present(ed) this video where these threats were made and prove its authenticity, we’ve done that. Sinisiguraduhin din natin, una, in the first place, is magtuloy-tuloy itong paglilitis na ito, we’ve also achieved that. So we’re pleased with how it has unfolded so far,” the lawyer explained.

Prosecution Spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the defense failed to refute the fact that Duterte had issued threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Instead, they countered that the threats were justified by her anger.

“‘Yung premise nila is nagalit, diba, ‘yun ang justification nila. Hindi po nila na-refute ‘yung ebidensya na ‘yun, rather, they provided justification kung bakit daw ganoon ang naging pananalita ng Bise Presidente,” Adiong recalled.

In his opinion, the lawmaker said Duterte’s statement was not merely a threat in the regular sense, as she had sworn during the virtual conference that she had contracted the services of an assassin to target the First Couple and Romualdez.

“Tingnan po natin ‘yung video na ‘yun, hindi po ‘yung usual na pagbabanta ang naririnig natin… ‘Yung narinig po natin sa video na iyon, sinabi niya, may kinausap siya, mayroon siyang sinabi na pag may nangyari sa akin, patayin mo si Presidente, ang Unang Ginang, ang former Speaker of the House, huwag kang titigil hangga’t hindi mo ito nagagawa,” Adiong said.

“So it was not really a threat, kung ako ang tatanungin mo. She described a meeting, wherein she requested or ordered someone to do her bidding to kill these individuals… So malaki po ‘yung difference nun,” Adiong reasoned.

Moreover, the congressman said that if the Filipino people do not condone issuing such threats, they should likewise be intolerant of threats made by a high-ranking government official, who should be held to a higher ethical standard.

“Kung ayaw niyong marinig iyon (ang banta), the more na ayaw niyo dapat marinig sa mga halal na opisyal. Mag-demand kayo ng ethical standard na hindi basta-basta na dahil galit (ang) tao na gawing justification ito,” Adiong said.

Former lawmaker and prosecution Spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers reminded the public that the impeachment trial was being conducted to assess whether Duterte is still deserving and fit to hold the second-highest seat in the country.

“Ang tanong na lang dito, ito ba ay dapat ginagawa ng isang mataas na opisyal ng gobyerno? Hindi ba dapat, kapag mataas ang pwesto mo sa gobyerno, hindi ba dapat mas mataas ‘yung panuntunan, mas mataas ‘yung standards of you being in that office? Ikaw ay role model, ikaw ay binigyan ng tiwala,” Barbers said.

In 2024, Duterte held an online press conference via Zoom during the early morning hours following the detention of her Chief of Staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez. In it, she declared repeatedly that she was not joking after she described having ordered a hitman to target the Marcoses and Romualdez if she would be killed.