NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Wednesday said the ongoing investigation to identify the person Vice President Sara Duterte had contracted to kill the president has been narrowed to 20 persons of interest, including “men in uniform who are in active service” and someone within the Vice Presidential Security Group.
Testifying on the ninth day of the impeachment trial against Duterte, Matibag reiterated that while investigators are certain someone was allegedly approached and agreed to carry out the plot, authorities have yet to establish the identity of the individual purportedly contracted.
Because of this, Matibag said the alleged threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains active.
In earlier testimony before the impeachment court, Matibag estimated a “six to seven” probability on a scale of one to 10 that the investigation will yield positive results. He also testified that investigators have substantially narrowed down their leads after months of intelligence gathering.
VP’s admission was the betrayal
Asked by defense counsel Mark Vinluan if they planned to file another impeachment case against Duterte for betrayal of public trust after the investigation is complete, Matibag said no, because the vice president’s public admission that she hired an assassin was already itself the betrayal.
“The betrayal of public trust as the issue in the impeachment court, we don’t need to investigate even if we pinpointed the person contracted. The point is that the betrayal of public trust was already consummated when she publicly admitted — there’s already an admission — that she contracted a killer, or an assassin, to kill the president. And that itself is already an admission,” Matibag said.
“Why? Because the oath of the Office of the Vice President, she said she will execute the law and do justice to every man. So when you plan to kill, and you do that, that is no justice to every man. It’s not [to] execute the law but execute the president is what you want to do,” he added.
The defense sought to strike Matibag’s statement from the record, but Presiding Officer Francis Escudero denied the motion.
Lead impeachment prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro opposed the defense’s objections and said Matibag only answered their question.
“The defense asked if the betrayal of public trust allegations will be proven if another impeachment case will be filed against Duterte and the witness if just answering — betrayal of public trust was already consummated when she said she hired a person to kill the president, the first lady and the House speaker, and the person agreed,” she said.
The defense challenged the NBI’s findings, arguing that Duterte’s statements had been taken out of context and questioning the bureau’s continuing investigation into the alleged threats.
Matibag stood by the NBI’s assessment, saying law enforcement authorities cannot simply disregard statements that could threaten public safety.
By way of comparison, the NBI chief cited how authorities respond to bomb jokes, saying potentially threatening statements must be processed rather than ignored.
Matibag also disclosed that the NBI had investigated Duterte’s own allegations that her life was under threat and had twice invited her to participate, but she did not appear.
“I was informed by the investigating officers that it was considered the threat that was mentioned to the vice president. In fact, personalities were subpoenaed, including the vice president two times, in order to aid the [NBI] in this investigation. However, to no avail, there was no attendance from the personalities that [were] invited,” he said.
Matibag also told the Senate impeachment court that the NBI’s search for Duterte’s alleged assassin has been trimmed down to 20 persons of interest.
“To put it into context, we started with a long list of names, and we’ve since narrowed it down. This is probably what many people have been waiting for — that we’re finally getting close to identifying the individual or individuals involved,” Matibag said, answering the questions of Senator-Judge Joel Villanueva during the resumption of Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Matibag’s testimony on Wednesday concluded the House prosecution panel’s presentation of evidence for Article IV of the impeachment complaint against the vice president. The impeachment court issued subpoenas for financial records, scheduling the start of proceedings on Article II, which accuses the vice president of accumulating unexplained wealth — next week.
Stop wasting time, Tulfo says
Also on Wednesday, Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo urged his fellow senator-judges to remain focused on the testimonies of witnesses and documentary evidence presented during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying unnecessary discussions on matters unrelated to the case only prolong the proceedings.
Tulfo said the impeachment court can help speed up the trial if senator-judges concentrate on issues directly relevant to the charges and the evidence being presented.
He noted that portions of the proceedings have been delayed because some senator-judges raise questions and concerns that are not material to the impeachment complaint or the matters being heard by the court.
“There are instances when it appears that senator-judges are already lecturing members of the prosecution or defense panels on issues that are far removed from what should be examined in the trial,” Tulfo said.
The senator emphasized that while members of the impeachment court have the prerogative to seek clarification on matters presented before them, such interventions should remain relevant and necessary to the proceedings.
At the same time, Tulfo underscored that senator-judges must exercise prudence in evaluating the evidence and witness testimonies to ensure that no material facts are overlooked.
“We should carefully study and scrutinize the testimonies and pieces of evidence presented so that we do not miss anything important in these impeachment proceedings,” he said.
