House prosecutor Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon mocked Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team on Tuesday, July 14 over what he insinuated was its weak cross-examination of impeachment trial witness, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc.

"May mensahe po tayo sa depensa--yan na ba yung best niyo? Galingan niyo pa ng konti," Ridon said during a press conference ahead of Tuesday's Senate impeachment trial.

(We have a message to the defense--is that your best already? Why don't you try and bit harder.)

Ridon was referring to the events Monday, July 13 when the defense tried to discredit Lotoc’s testimony and investigation on respondent Duterte's death threats against President Marcos and other members of the First Family by pointing out typographical errors in documents.

"Even if they have raised documents discrepancies on cross[-examination], it did not diminish the threat itself. Hindi ho ba? (Isn't it right?)" said the lawyer-legislator.

The subjects of Duerte's alleged threats uttered Nov. 23, 2024 were President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.

"Ang pinag-uusapan pa rin po natin dito, yun pong banta ng Pangalawang Pangulo sa Pangulo, sa House Speaker, at the First Lady. So hindi ho nagbabago yun, tuloy pa rin yun," Ridon said.

(What we are still discussing here is the Vice President’s threat against the President, the House Speaker, and the First Lady. So that does not change, it continues.)

"Hindi nagbago yung fact na mayroong nagbanta, mayroong pagbabanta, at mayroon pong pinagbataan. So pasok pa rin po sa banga yun pong teorya ng prosekusyon na mayroon pong aktwal na pagbabanta laban sa Pangulo...that rise[s] to a level of an impeachable offense," added the feisty solon.

(The fact remains that there was a threat, there was an act of threatening, and there were individuals threatened. So it still fits within the prosecution’s theory that there was an actual threat against the President…that rises to the level of an impeachable offense.)

The death threats are part and parcel of Article IV (grave threats and inciting to sedition) of the articles of impeachment against Duterte.

So confident was Ridon of the strength of Lotoc's testimony that he had no problem with the defense continuing with this tactic in the course of the trial.

"So we'll let them nitpick on all of these documents. No problem. Kasi hindi ho nagbabago yung fact na mayroon pong pagbabanta," he said.

(It doesn't change the fact that there was a threat.)

Deputy Speaker Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun and Deputy Minority Leader ACT Teachers Party-list Antonio Tinio agreed with the observation that the defense's point against Lotoc’s testimony was vapid at best.

Khonghun and Tinio noted that there's actual video of Duterte’s death threats--something that had been replayed and rewatched countless times on the Internet.

“Nasa video ang banta at nasa rekord na ang findings ng NBI. Maaaring kuwestiyunin ang mga dokumento, pero kailangan pa ring sagutin ng depensa ni VP Duterte ang ebidensya,” said Khonghun.

“Itama ang typo, pero huwag babalewalain ang isyu. Hindi nabubura ng maling entries sa dokumento ang mga sinabi sa video, ang testimonya at ang findings na ipinaliwanag under oath,” he pointed out.

(Correct the typo, but do not dismiss the issue. Wrong entries in the document do not erase what was said in the video, the testimony, and the findings explained under oath.)

For his part, Tinio said: "There is video. There are death threats against President Marcos Jr., Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. This is not a speech. This is not a political opinion. This is a crime—and it receives no protection under freedom of expression."

"This is simply a defense strategy: discredit the investigation, sow doubt, and leave the senator-judges without clear evidence. But this should not work," he said.

Tinio clarified that impeachment was not a criminal trial. This means that the Senate "does not need a conviction in regular court to declare a Vice President unfit for office—especially one who has uttered death threats against the President".