FACT CHECK: No, the NBI did not launch an ‘attack’ on VP Sara

Claim: The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) attacked Vice President Sara Duterte.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim was posted on June 12 and has since garnered over 17,960 views, 470 likes, and 80 comments. The video’s caption reads, “Big news! Dios ko po! Delikado na si VP Sara! Nabunyag ang binabalak ng Gatchalian bloc sa Senado.”

(Big news! My God! VP Sara is now in danger! What the Gatchalian bloc is planning in the Senate has been exposed.) 

Text on its thumbnail reads, “Delikado si VP Sara! NBI nilusob na si VP Sara?“

(VP Sara is in danger? NBI launched an attack on her?)

The video was uploaded by the channel, “PHILIPPINE TRENDING NEWS,” which has over 544,000 subscribers and consistently posts pro-Duterte and anti-Marcos content. The channel’s description states that it provides “news and updates” on Philippine politics.

The same channel previously posted a similar video on October 13, 2025, featuring a similar claim and thumbnail image. That video garnered over 48,634 views, 2,000 likes, and 380 comments.

The facts: Duterte was not attacked by the NBI. There are no reports from authorities or credible media outlets substantiating these claims.

When the claim was posted, the Vice President was attending the Philippine Independence Day commemoration in Davao City and sharing updates about her activities. There have also been no posts from authorities or Duterte’s camp regarding an alleged NBI attack against her or any imminent threat.

NBI vs Sara: The video was posted a few days before June 18, the first day of the pre-trial conference for Duterte’s impeachment proceedings. Among other offenses, the Vice President is accused of making grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family.

In April, during the House justice committee’s final impeachment hearing on the determination of probable cause against Duterte, the NBI said that it found a “reasonable certainty of conviction” against the Vice President for inciting to sedition and multiple counts of grave threats.

This stemmed from the alleged death threats Duterte made during a publicly streamed, midnight virtual press conference on November 23, 2024. During the press conference, she assured her supporters that she had allegedly “talked to someone” who would ensure that if she were killed, the Marcoses and former House speaker Martin Romualdez would be assassinated.

Duterte’s public outburst stemmed from the detention of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, on House premises in November 2024. This was after Lopez was cited in contempt over her vague answers to lawmakers’ questions and “undue interference” in the House good government panel’s probe into the Vice President’s alleged misuse of public funds. (READ: Sara’s outbursts and the Duterte lingo of impunity) 

The NBI filed criminal complaints against Duterte in February 2025.

Debunked: Rappler has previously debunked similar claims regarding Duterte and her office:

• FACT CHECK: Supreme Court did not dismiss Sara Duterte impeachment after House hearings
• FACT CHECK: No, Sara Duterte won’t be proclaimed president over Marcos health rumors
• FACT CHECK: COA didn’t ‘clear’ VP Sara of fund misuse; impeachment case not junked
• FACT CHECK: SC ruling on impeachment did not declare Sara Duterte innocent
• FACT CHECK: Post falsely claims COA opinion ‘clears’ OVP of irregularities

– Reinnard Balonzo/Rappler.com 

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