Senators, sitting as impeachment judges, hear first witness's testimonies against Vice President

The impeachment court watched a series of clips of Vice President Sara Duterte threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the second day of the trial.

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, a counsel for the House panel of prosecutors, cross-examining NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung on Vice President Sara Duterte threatening to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed. Screengrab from the livestream.

Manuel Mogato | July 7, 2026 (Updated: July 7, 2026, 7:40 PM)

MANILA — The impeachment court watched a series of clips of Vice President Sara Duterte threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the second day of the trial as prosecutors start the case on the fourth impeachment article.

Duterte, in the series of clips compiled by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said that she had contracted a “hitman” to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos, and first cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, if something happens to her. (Also read: Marcos removes Dutertes from the National Security Council structure)

She said the threats are “no joke, no joke” as she cursed them in her anger.

The vice president also said that she had imagined “cutting off” the president’s head and even told Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, that she would have their father’s remains dug up and thrown into the West Philippine Sea.

Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel for the House panel of prosecutors, said that the statements from Duterte’s livestream last October 18, 2024 constituted a clear “betrayal of public trust.”

“These statements prove one thing: there is really a plan […] there is really a system of the vice president of what she wants to do to the president — she wants to cut off his head, she wants to kill him,” Ligutan said.

“When has it happened in the history of the Republic of the Philippines that the vice president has threatened, said to the public, that she has contracted a killer to assassinate the president?”

Ligutan was the prosecutor who cross-examined NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilong, who authenticated the video clips. Calilong is one of the two NBI agents who were subpoenaed to attend the impeachment hearings.

The panel of prosecutors said the threats are unusual for a vice president to kill the president when she will be the main beneficiary when Marcos is killed. (Also read: Marcos starts consolidation, purges Duterte loyalists)

The prosecutors said they would 11 days to prove that the charges, the fourth article of impeachment, constitute betrayal of public trust and a grave threat of constitutional order.

It is the first charge against the vice president. (Also read: Prosecutors plan to present a ‘fictitious agent’ as a witness at the impeachment trial)

The prosecution said it would need 62 days to present witnesses and thousands of documentary evidence, including public records and bank statements to prove Duterte is unfit for her position.

(Additional reporting from Anna Mogato)