Manila: The House prosecution on Tuesday began its evidence presentation with testimony from a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) cybercrime investigator authenticating a video linked to the impeachment charge against Vice President Sara Duterte. The video reportedly contains grave threats made by Duterte against the nation's top officials.
According to Philippines News Agency, NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung testified before the Senate Impeachment Court, stating that he served as the 'agent on case' in probing Duterte's threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Calilung explained his role in viewing, identifying, preserving, collecting, and authenticating digital evidence during the investigation, as stated during his examination by lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, representing the House prosecutors.
The evidence presented by the NBI included a video from Duterte's November 23 online press briefing, which was streamed live on former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's Facebook page. This event transpired while Duterte was outside the House detention facility, where her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, was detained after being cited in contempt by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability over the Office of the Vice President's confidential fund usage.
Calilung authenticated the recording by comparing a screen-recorded copy with the original livestream. He further ensured the video's integrity by generating a hash value, which prevents tampering. The authenticated recording, which contained Duterte's controversial statements, was then played before the impeachment court. In the video, Duterte mentioned having instructed someone to target President Marcos, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez should any harm come to her.
In addition to authenticating the video, the NBI submitted a preservation request to Meta, Facebook's parent company, and executed an Affidavit of Authentication of Digital Evidence to document the forensic process. Calilung also revealed that the NBI conducted an open-source investigation to check if Duterte had made similar statements before the November 23 briefing. Their investigation uncovered an October 18 online press conference where Duterte made aggressive remarks towards President Marcos, including threats and criticisms.
Calilung's testimony provided the prosecution with a foundational basis to present further witnesses and documentary evidence concerning the fourth Article of Impeachment.
