NBI urges inciting to sedition, threat charges vs VP Sara over ‘assassination’ remarks
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended that the Department of Justice file inciting to sedition and grave threat charges against Vice President Sara Duterte over her assassination remarks in November 2024.
This was confirmed by NBI Director Jamie Santiago in an interview with DZBB on Wednesday, February 12.
“We have finally recommended the filing of inciting to sedition and grave threats against the Vice President,” Santiago said.
In a separate interview with reporters, Santiago said that the charges the bureau recommended against Duterte were based on her threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which “incited her followers” to rebel.
“Yung threat niya, nalathala naman, sinabi niya no joke, no joke, so we take that seriously,” Santiago said.
(Her threat was published—she said, "No joke, no joke." So we take that seriously.)
According to Santiago, the NBI has filed three counts of grave threats, as the threats were directed at the president, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In response to the NBI’s recommendation, Duterte said: As expected.
In a message to Philstar.com, Prosecutor General Anthony Fadullon said that the National Prosecution Service (NPS) is checking if the complaint has been lodged into its docket.
“If it is with the NPS already, it will again be evaluated to determine if the evidence is complete. If it is, then that is the only time it can be referred for preliminary investigation,” Fadullon said in a message to Philstar.com.
Duterte's assassination remarks stemmed from the detention of her Chief of Staff, Zuleika Lopez, by the House of Representatives for contempt during a committee probe into the alleged misuse of her office’s confidential and intelligence funds.
The vice president stated that she had already hired someone to murder Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez, should she die.
However, she repeatedly insisted that her comments did not constitute a grave threat.
These remarks have also been included in the articles of impeachment against her, which she is expected to face after the 2025 midterm elections.
What does the law say about the complaints?
The charges filed against Duterte are offenses under the Revised Penal Code.
Article 142 defines inciting to sedition as:
“Any person who, without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition, should incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition, by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners, or other representations tending to the same end, or upon any person or persons who shall utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the or any of the duly constituted authorities thereof, or which tend to disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his office, or which tend to instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes, or which suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots, or which lead or tend to stir up the people against the lawful authorities or to disturb the peace of the community, the safety and order of the Government, or who shall knowingly conceal such evil practices.”
If found guilty, the accused may face a penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period or four years, two months and one day to six years imprisonment.
The Revised Penal Code also imposes a fine of not exceeding P400,000.
Meanwhile, grave threats have been defined as:
“Any person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the person, honor or property of the latter or of his family of any wrong amounting to a crime.”
Its penalty is the following:
The penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed by law for the crime he threatened to commit, if the offender shall have made the threat demanding money or imposing any other condition, even though not unlawful, and said offender shall have attained his purpose. If the offender shall not have attained his purpose, the penalty lower by two degrees shall be imposed.
If the threat be made in writing or through a middleman, the penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period.
2. The penalty of arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding P100,000 if the threat shall not have been made subject to a condition.
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