Sara Duterte trial recap, July 7: Video of kill remarks, barrage of objections

MANILA, Philippines — A video of Vice President Sara Duterte saying she had ordered the killing of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was played before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday, July 7, entering the record as evidence on the second day of her trial.

Senator-judges watched a clip of Duterte's Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference in which she said: "Pag pinatay ako patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, nag bilin na ako ma'am." The remarks were referring to the president, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The prosecution opened its case with Article IV, which accuses Duterte of grave threats and an assassination plot.

Conviction on any article requires 16 votes from the 24-member court and would remove Duterte from office, with the possibility of a permanent ban from public service.

1. Prosecution calls in first witness

The video was shown as the prosecution presented its first witness, NBI senior agent John Mark Calilung, who told the court he verified the recording — livestreamed on the Facebook page of Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque — and had Meta "preserve" it. 

The prosecutor who examined Calilung is seasoned court litigator Amando Virgil Ligutan, who is one of 15 private lawyers acting as counsel to the House prosecution panel.

Calilung confirmed the NBI also subpoenaed journalists who attended the vice president's late-night Zoom conference, including the late Inquirer reporter Dempsey Reyes and former Rappler reporter Bonz Magsambol, whose sworn affidavits attest to hearing the remarks.

Duterte was at the Senate but did not attend the trial. She arrived past noon to meet her defense lawyers and told reporters: "In this bloodbath and bludgeoning, I will be bloodied but unbowed." 

Presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero reiterated on Tuesday that she cannot be compelled to appear. 

The prosecution on Tuesday said it reserved the right to call her as a witness.

2. Defense objects at every turn

Duterte's counsel Carlo Narvasa contested nearly every step taken by the House prosecution — from its opening on the grave threats article, Calilung's competence to testify on Meta's process of preserving the evidence, the certification of documents and affidavits, a flash drive used to store the video, and the length of the clip to be shown. 

Escudero overruled him repeatedly but stopped short of saying he was out of order.

Narvasa at the start moved to disqualify Calilung as a witness and argued the agent was not named in the underlying complaint that formed the basis of the impeachment case. 

Escudero denied the motion.

3. Duterte's rants vs Marcos during 2024 pressers shown in court

Tensions briefly sparked when the prosecution moved to present the actual video of Duterte uttering the kill remarks. 

Prosecutors played a two-minute excerpt from the press conference, which runs around two hours.

Narvasa demanded the full recording be played for "full context. Senator-judge Alan Cayetano said he would "rather watch the whole thing and get it over with than allow prosecution to pick out portions that go into the center of the controversy." 

Escudero stepped in and ruled that both the defense and prosecution can choose how to present its own evidence, and that there is nothing improper with the prosecution presenting shorter clips from the recording.

Prosecutors also showed footage of Duterte's October 2024 press conference, where she said she imagined cutting off Marcos' head, and a Presidential Communications Office video of the president responding to those remarks.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked the prosecution on the weight of the evidence it was presenting, pointing out that Duterte's remarks were not by themselves concrete proof that she had contracted an assassin. 

She asked whether the statements amounted to an impeachable offense.

Ligutan said yes and argued the videos were proof that Duterte's remarks were not isolated incidents but a "series of statements" that formed a "culmination" showing real intent to have Marcos killed.

The trial resumes tomorrow 2 p.m., where Duterte's defense is set to conduct a cross-examination of Calilung.