MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution presented the video evidence where Vice President Sara Duterte threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former speaker Martin Romualdez amid objections raised by Defense.
The video was part of the two-hour zoom press briefing Duterte held last Nov. 23, 2024.
John Mark Calilung, senior agent of the National Bureau of Investigation, presented the evidence and conferred to his investigation notes to confirm that Duterte uttered the threats.
The defense objected to the "leading" or "vage" questions of private prosectuor Amando Virgil Ligutan to Calilung on whether the statements were made by Duterte.
Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero denied the motions of the defense.
Calilung, assigned to the bureau's Cybercrime Investigation Division and Digital Forensic Laboratory Division, took the witness stand on the second day of the Senate impeachment trial.
The prosecution called Calilung to testify on Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, which accuses Duterte of committing grave threats and acts of sedition arising from her controversial online media briefing.
During direct examination by Ligutan, Calilung testified that he was responsible for collecting, preserving, and authenticating the video of the online press conference that was uploaded on the Facebook account of former presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
According to Calilung, he immediately requested Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook's parent company, to preserve a copy of the video to ensure its integrity for investigative purposes.
"I collected, preserved, and authenticated the online media briefing," Calilung told the impeachment court, adding that he initiated the preservation request shortly after the video surfaced online.
Calilung also testified that he downloaded and documented the video using forensic procedures, captured screenshots through his laptop, saved electronic copies, and produced printed copies, which were later submitted to the House Committee on Justice during its impeachment proceedings.
