The Senate impeachment court on Tuesday played a two-minute and 18-second video clip of Vice President Sara Duterte's November 23, 2024, online press conference as the House prosecution presented evidence supporting Article IV of the impeachment complaint, which accuses her of making grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The video was presented during the direct examination of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, who led the cyber investigation into Duterte's statements.
House prosecutor Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan informed the court that only the relevant portion of the recording would be presented instead of the entire video.
"We will not be showing the entire two-hour video. We will be presenting the relevant portion of the video," Ligutan said.
Ligutan said the clip shown formed part of a two-hour, 26-minute, and 10-second recording of Duterte's online press conference, explaining that only the portion relevant to the allegation of grave threats was necessary at that stage of the proceedings.
"For the interest of time, for the prosecution's presentation of evidence, we deem that only a two-minute portion out of that two-hour video is relevant at this point in time," he said.
In the video played before the Senate impeachment court, Duterte was heard saying:
"Huwag ka mag-alala sa security ko kasi may kinausap na akong tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke... Huwag kang titigil hangga't hindi mo sila napapatay."
The defense, through Atty. Carlo Joaquin Narvasa objected to the presentation of only a portion of the video, arguing that the complete recording should be shown to provide proper context.
"We request that the entire video be played," Narvasa told the court.
Narvasa argued that presenting only selected excerpts would deprive the impeachment court of the full context of Duterte's statements.
"The prosecutor cannot be allowed to present a small, truncated part of the whole two-hour, twenty-six-minute video. That will not provide the context necessary," he said.
Ligutan countered that the Rules of Court allow the prosecution to determine which evidence to present and noted that the defense would have the opportunity to present the remainder of the recording during its own presentation of evidence.
"It is for prosecutors to decide what to present, when to present, how to present, and whether to present at all," Ligutan said.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero overruled the defense's objection and allowed the prosecution to play the selected portion of the video, noting that the defense may present the complete recording at the appropriate stage of the trial.
Calilung testified that the video had been collected, preserved, and authenticated by the NBI Cybercrime Division as part of its investigation into Duterte's alleged threats against the President, the First Lady, and Romualdez.
The presentation of the video marked a key part of the prosecution's effort to establish Article IV of the impeachment complaint, which alleges that the Vice President committed grave threats through her public statements during the November 23, 2024, online press conference.
