National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag told the Senate impeachment court that Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged “betrayal of public trust” was already consummated when she publicly admitted that she had instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. if anything happened to her.
Testifying on the ninth day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Matibag said the Vice President’s own statements constituted an admission.
“The betrayal of public trust was already been consummated when she publicly admitted — there is already an admission — that she contracted a killer, mamamatay-tao or assassin to kill the president,” Matibag told the impeachment court.
He argued that Duterte’s alleged actions violated the oath of her office, which requires the Vice President to uphold the law and render justice.
“The oath of the Office of the Vice President is to execute the law and do justice to every man. If you plan to kill someone and act on it, that is not justice. It is not executing the law but executing the President,” Matibag said.
The testimony stemmed from Duterte’s controversial remarks during a virtual press conference in November 2024, in which she said she had instructed someone to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were assassinated.
In the viral video, Duterte said: “If I am killed, do not stop until you have killed BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez,” adding that the instruction was “no joke.”
During Wednesday’s proceedings, Duterte’s defense team asked the impeachment court to strike Matibag’s statement from the record, but the request was denied.
Lead impeachment prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro opposed the motion, arguing that Matibag merely answered a question posed by the defense regarding whether the alleged act could already constitute betrayal of public trust.
“The witness simply explained that the betrayal of public trust had already been consummated because there was already a person who allegedly agreed to carry out the killings,” Luistro said.
Duterte has repeatedly denied that her remarks amounted to a threat, maintaining that they were made in the context of concerns over her own security.
“I said, ‘If I die.’ That means there was already a threat against me. They simply do not care that I am also concerned about my security because I hear things,” Duterte said in an earlier statement.
The Vice President is facing impeachment over allegations that include culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes.
