MANILA — The prosecution’s documentary evidence in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio came under intense scrutiny after senator-judges questioned multiple errors in National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) records, prompting the agency’s witness to repeatedly attribute the discrepancies to “typographical errors.”
NBI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, the prosecution’s second witness for the fourth article of impeachment, faced pointed questions over inaccuracies in the agency’s affidavit of investigation and subpoena documents while testifying before the Senate impeachment court.
Lotoc, who previously headed the NBI Cybercrime Division, was presented by the prosecution to support allegations that Duterte-Carpio committed grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The first issue was raised by senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano, who noted that the NBI affidavit incorrectly stated that Duterte-Carpio had resigned as secretary of the Department of Justice instead of the Department of Education.
“That’s a typo, Your Honor,” Lotoc replied.
Cayetano, however, rejected the explanation, stressing that the error involved two entirely different government agencies.
“Department of Justice and Department of Education are two different things,” he pointed out.
Duterte-Carpio served as Education secretary from June 2022 to July 2024, during which her office’s use of confidential and intelligence funds came under congressional scrutiny.
Senator-judge Imee Marcos later flagged another discrepancy involving an NBI subpoena dated Nov. 6, 2024, requesting ABS-CBN to submit an authenticated copy of a video of Duterte-Carpio’s Oct. 18, 2024 press conference.
Marcos noted that the NBI had earlier maintained it only launched its investigation after Duterte-Carpio’s Nov. 23, 2024 press conference.
“Nov. 6, 2024, a subpoena was issued to ABS-CBN requiring them to submit an authenticated copy of the video pertaining to the 18 October presscon,” Marcos said while reading from the affidavit.
She asked whether the subpoena indicated that the NBI had already begun investigating Duterte-Carpio before Nov. 23.
“No, Your Honor. I believe that’s a typo, yung date,” Lotoc responded.
After examining the original subpoena, Lotoc acknowledged that it also carried the Nov. 6, 2024 date.
“Date ng subpoena, Your Honor, is 6th day of November 2024, which I believe this is a typo kasi magkakasunod ho ito doon sa mga in-issue-han namin na media personalities,” he said.
Marcos pointed out that both the subpoena and the affidavit of investigation reflected the same date.
Lotoc confirmed that the affidavit had been prepared by his team.
“Kami ho ang nagtulong-tulong mag-draft ng affidavit of investigation, kung ano ‘yung legal basis namin. And then we agreed and concluded na ito iyon, ito iyon,” he said./PN
