NBI TO SUBPOENA VP SARA

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will subpoena Vice President Sara Duterte as part of its investigation over her threatening remarks against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez, a justice official said on Monday.

In a Palace briefing, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said a subpoena will be served on the Vice President as soon as possible.

“Ang imbestigasyon po na gagawin ng gobyerno ukol sa bagay na ito ay agad-agaran. Importante pong malaman kung ano ang mga naging hakbang para po kumuha ng serbisyo ng isang mamamatay tao na nagpaplano ng masamang balakin sa ating mahal na Pangulo,” Andres told the briefing.

“At gagawin po ng National Bureau of Investigation ang lahat ng mga hakbang para matunton ang identity nito kasama po ang pag-iisyu po ng subpoena kay Vice President Sara na humarap sa NBI para bigyan po ng kaliwanagan ang kaniyang mga pananalita,” he said.

Andres said the NBI is allowed to initiate the investigation moto propio, meaning that even without the filing of a complaint, the agency is authorized to issue the subpoena to allow the Vice President to give her side and clarify her remarks against those she threatened.

The government’s criminal investigative body is not taking the issue lightly, Andres said, especially since Duterte openly admitted to have hired an assassin to take out the President, the First Lady and the Speaker in the event that she is killed.

“Dahil po diretsuhan niyang sinabi na siya po ay kumuha na ng tao na siya pong gagawa ng pagpatay hindi lang po sa Pangulo, kasama po ang ating First Lady at ang ating Speaker of the House ay hindi po tamang pananalita na nanggagaling po sa napakataas na opisyales ng ating bayan,” Andres said.

In the same briefing, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said they immediately launched the investigation after receiving the video clips of Duterte’s statements. He added that they will ask the Vice President “to appear within five days from today” to explain her side.

The NBI‘s Cybercrime Unit determined the video clip was authentic and not AI-generated, or deepfake, Santiago said.

He added the NBI had requested Facebook to preserve the material for future reference.

“Now, ang next step namin ngayon is dini-determine namin whatever action, say, criminal or whatever action that we will take against the Vice President, especially the person na sinasabi niya na inutusan na niya para ipapatay si President Marcos, the First Lady and the Speaker,” he said.

Should Duterte ignore the subpoena, the NBI official said they will start with their investigation and use whatever legal evidence they have.

Duterte made threatening and profanity-laden remarks about taking out the President and others during an online media conference over the weekend at the House of Representatives where her chief of staff, attorney Zuleika Lopez, was detained after being cited in contempt.