The Senate cameras captured the testimony. They didn’t capture everything, however.

On the second day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, July 7, senator-judges examined videos presented by the prosecution to support the impeachment articles accusing her of threatening President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House speaker Martin Romualdez.

Standing as a witness, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent John Mark Calilung walked the impeachment court through some of Duterte’s public statements, including a video from an October 18, 2024, press briefing in which she questioned Marcos’ fitness to lead the country and said she imagined cutting off the President’s head.

As Calilung recounted Duterte’s remarks, he read another statement from the same video in which the Vice President recalled warning Senator Imee Marcos that if their family did not stop what they were doing, she would exhume the remains of the senator’s father, former president Ferdinand E. Marcos, and throw them into the West Philippine Sea.

“Hindi ko alam. Pero isang beses, sinabihan ko talaga si Senator Imee. Sabi ko sa kanya, kung hindi kayo tumigil, huhukayin ko ‘yang tatay ninyo, itatapon ko siya sa West Philippine Sea,” Duterte said, as read by Calilung from his investigator’s notes. (I don’t know. But there was one time when I really told Senator Imee. I told her, if you don’t stop what you’re doing, I’ll dig up your father and throw him into the West Philippine Sea.)

The livestream captured every word. What it didn’t show was Imee’s reaction.

As the NBI agent read Duterte’s statement, Imee was seen smirking.

Moments later, when the video was played in the session hall, the senator remained glued to her phone while the other senator-judges watched the footage on the screen.

The irony was hard to miss. Remember, it was Rodrigo Duterte who gave the former dictator a hero’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016.

Despite Sara’s bitter split with President Marcos Jr., Imee remained one of the Dutertes’ closest political allies.

Imee was among the key figures behind that tandem. She said she encouraged Sara to run as Marcos Jr.’s vice presidential running mate.

In April 2026, Imee said she regretted helping bring the two families together and felt guilty over how events unfolded. She added that, had she known what would happen, former president Rodrigo Duterte might have still been in the Philippines and free.

Under Marcos Jr.’s administration, the elder Duterte was arrested and sent to The Hague to face allegations of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court over his bloody war on drugs. He is currently on trial.

Now, Sara also faces her own trial — an impeachment trial. There, Imee — Sara’s friend — sits as senator-judge. – Rappler.com