Prosecution drops Zuleika Lopez as witness

MANILA, Philippines —  The prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer summon her former chief of staff Zuleika Lopez to the witness stand.

Counsel for prosecution Lorna Kapunan said the decision to drop Lopez as witness is intended to hasten the trial, since her potential testimony has already been rendered “unnecessary and redundant” by the testimonies of the two witnesses from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in relation to grave threats under Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment.

Lopez was expected to take the witness stand today.

Kapunan said Lopez’s testimony was expected to prove that she was present inside the detention center at the House of Representatives where Duterte made the kill threat. She was also expected to confirm the authenticity of the video of the online press conference where the Vice President made the alleged threats.

“It is the wisdom of the public prosecutors that we find it totally unnecessary, redundant and a surplusage to still present attorney Zuleika Lopez,” Kapunan told the Senate impeachment court.

Apart from Lopez, the prosecution team also dropped from its witness list House Legislative Security Bureau executive director Capt. Belinda Bello, saying her testimony would be merely corroborative.

Kapunan explained that Bello would have been called only to support evidence about the events preceding the online press conference.

Despite dropping the two witnesses from the list, Kapunan said the prosecution was able to establish strong evidence from the testimonies of NBI senior agent John Mark Calilung and NBI regional director Jeremy Lotoc as well as from 64 pieces of documentary evidence presented to prove the authenticity of the video and the legitimacy of the threat.

Digong’s history 

Also yesterday, Lotoc said the NBI considered former president Rodrigo Duterte’s history and his ongoing case before the International Criminal Court as factors that led it to conclude that the Vice President had the capability to carry out her alleged threats against President Marcos.

He made the revelation during questioning by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian at the resumption yesterday of the impeachment trial of the Vice President.

Gatchalian pressed the witness to explain the basis for the bureau’s finding that Duterte had the capability to execute the alleged threat.

Lotoc initially cited Duterte’s position as vice president, but Gatchalian challenged the explanation.

“Not because you’re the vice president does it mean you have the capability to do that,” Gatchalian said.

Lotoc then pointed to the Vice President’s family background.

“We all know her background. Her father was president and is now facing a case before the ICC over extrajudicial killings, among others,” Lotoc said. “We considered that and concluded that, aside from being vice president, she had the capability.”

The exchange came as Gatchalian also questioned the basis for the NBI’s belief that Duterte had already contracted someone to make good her threat.

Lotoc admitted that the conclusion of the Cybercrime Division, which he previously headed, was based solely on Duterte’s own public statements.

He said investigators initially considered the possibility that Duterte was joking when she made the remarks during her Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference, but changed their assessment after she repeated three days later that she had indeed spoken to someone to carry out her kill threat.

“Our belief is that the Vice President had already talked to someone,” Lotoc said.

Asked whether the Cybercrime Division had independent evidence identifying the alleged person or confirming that such an individual existed, Lotoc acknowledged it had none.

Lotoc said determining the identity or existence of the alleged person fell under the NBI’s Intelligence Service. - Daphne Galvez, Delon Porcalla, Mark Ernest Villeza, Ghio Ong