MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the hired assassin that Vice President Sara Duterte claimed she had contracted in her alleged remarks against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may be from within her own security detail.

In a report, it said that NBI Director Melvin Matibag confirmed this during the House justice panel’s impeachment hearing on Wednesday, April 29, saying the bureau is looking into members of the Vice President’s Security Protection Group (VPSPG), which includes active military personnel, to identify the individual allegedly involved.

It is a “possibility” that the supposed hitman is a member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Matibag said when asked by lawmakers.

“Because the members of the vice presidential security and protection group, there are active members of the military there,” Matibag said in Filipino.

“Some have been identified as still being in the military service, while many others are no longer in the service,” he added.

Matibag said the NBI is still tracking several individuals but has yet to identify the specific person linked to Duterte’s claim.

“We have some personalities na sinusundan po namin,” he said, adding: “In general, we are looking at … the close associates of the vice president.”

He also said the bureau verified the authenticity of the video where Duterte made the alleged threat.

“Inensure natin na hindi siya edited or spliced or AI edited,” the NBI told the committee.

The incident being investigated

The remarks under investigation were made in the early hours of November 23, 2024, during a midnight Zoom press conference initially called for Vice President Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez.

Lopez had been detained at the House of Representatives after being cited in contempt during a probe into alleged misuse of confidential funds at the Office of the Vice President.

During the livestream, Duterte took over the session and launched an expletive-filled tirade against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez, after Lopez was ordered transferred to a women’s prison in Mandaluyong.

It was during this broadcast that Duterte allegedly said she had contracted someone to kill the three officials should anything happen to her, repeating twice that she was not joking.

More than a year later, the statement has become part of the impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President.

Impeachment proceedings

The House justice committee on Wednesday voted unanimously, with all 53 members present, to find probable cause to impeach Duterte on two complaints.

The panel is set to draft articles of impeachment for transmission to the plenary, where a one-third vote could result in Duterte becoming the first Philippine official to be impeached twice.

The case would then proceed to the Senate for trial, which Duterte’s legal team has described as the proper forum to address the allegations.

Her lawyers have also argued that the House committee hearings lack constitutional jurisdiction, while the Vice President has skipped all four hearings held by the panel.