Matibag tells Senate impeachment court investigators have identified persons of interest but withholds details due to ongoing probe
By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag testified before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday that there is “100 percent” certainty Vice President Sara Duterte spoke to an alleged hitman, citing the Vice President’s own public admission as the basis for the bureau’s conclusion.
Appearing as the prosecution’s final witness for Article IV of the Articles of Impeachment, Matibag said the NBI has already identified several persons of interest connected to the alleged kill plot but declined to reveal further information because the investigation remains ongoing.
During questioning by Senator-judge Bam Aquino, Matibag was asked how certain investigators were that Duterte had indeed communicated with someone regarding the alleged plot.
“Based on the Vice President’s own statement, we are certain that she spoke to someone. One hundred percent, because she herself declared that she had talked to a person who agreed to carry out the killings if she were killed,” Matibag told the impeachment court.
The NBI chief anchored his testimony on Duterte’s remarks during an online press briefing on Nov. 23, 2024, when she publicly declared that she had instructed someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez should anything happen to her.
According to Matibag, Duterte’s own words constitute the primary basis for the bureau’s conclusion that such a conversation took place, although he stopped short of identifying the alleged individual or disclosing evidence gathered by investigators.
He explained that revealing additional details could compromise the ongoing criminal investigation.
Matibag’s testimony forms the centerpiece of the prosecution’s presentation for Article IV, which accuses Duterte of making grave threats against the President, the First Lady, and Romualdez.
With Matibag serving as the prosecution’s final witness on the article, the Senate impeachment court is expected to conclude hearings on the alleged threat and proceed to Article I, which concerns accusations that Duterte improperly used confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
ia/xf
