THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) may need to determine whether Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s remark about wanting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s head warrants further investigation as part of its continuing threat assessment.
House prosecutor Terry L. Ridon of Bicol Saro Party-list said the bureau had already testified that it was treating the statements examined by its special task force seriously.
“Kailangan ho itanong kay Director [Melvin] Matibag ‘yan. Kasi sila naman ‘yung nagsabi that they are taking these utterances seriously,” Ridon said during a press conference Tuesday night.
The issue arose after Matibag presented a video of the Davao City mayor speaking during a Rage Coalition gathering as one of the materials reviewed by the task force.
Private prosecutor and legal spokesperson Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the NBI revisited the footage because of the language used by the mayor.
“Nasabi niya, isa sa mga bagay na iyon ay nabalikan nila ‘yung video ni Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte kung saan sinabi niya doon sa isang pagpupulong ng Rage Coalition na iisang ulo ang gusto nila. Gusto nila ang ulo ng Presidente Marcos,” Tolosa recounted.
Investigators compared the remark with an earlier statement attributed to Vice President Sara Z. Duterte involving an image of beheading the President.
“At dahil dito, naiugnay niya ito doon sa naunang video na nakita na natin sa pamamagitan ng testimonyo ng dalawang witness natin na sinabi naman ng Vice Presidente sa isang interview na she was imagining cutting the head of the President,” Tolosa explained.
The prosecution said the recurrence of similar language became part of the NBI’s basis for assessing whether the statements represented an isolated outburst or a continuing security concern.
“So dahil dito nakita nila na may pattern considering that these same words, these same threats came from the same family,” Tolosa noted.
Ridon said any decision to expand or intensify the inquiry would have to come from the bureau conducting the investigation.
“So tingnan naman natin kung mayroon silang pagpapalalim pa doon sa naganap ng event na ‘yan,” Ridon added.
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