NBI has persons of interest in alleged Sara Duterte plot vs. Marcos — Matibag

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has identified persons of interest in connection with the individual allegedly hired by Vice President Sara Duterte to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and others if she were killed, Director Melvin Matibag said Tuesday.

At Duterte's impeachment trial, Matibag testified that he created a special task force to investigate the alleged threat against the president’s life and to discover the identity behind the alleged individual.

He described the probe as a "continuing investigation."

“Meron po tayong mga leads na atin pong sinusundan at katunayan, we already have established persons of interest na maaaring magturo o tumukoy doon sa taong kinausap ng ating bise presidente,” he said.

(We have leads that we are pursuing, and in fact, we have already identified persons of interest who may be able to identify the individual our Vice President spoke to.)

“O maaaring isa dito sa tinatawag nating persons of interest ang siyang talagang nakausap ng bise presidente,” he added.

(Or one of these persons of interest may in fact be the individual the Vice President spoke to.)

'Can't disclose identities'

Matibag, however, declined to name the said persons of interest.

“Kinalulungkot ko po, pero sa akin pong katayuan, bilang NBI director, ay hindi ko po maaaring isiwalat ang pagkakakilanlan o pagkatao ng ating mga persons of interest na ito,” he said.

(I regret that, but in my capacity as NBI Director, I cannot disclose the identities of these persons of interest.)

The NBI chief said that such a disclosure would compromise the investigation and endanger the NBI’s assets that provide the bureau with human intelligence.

“Pangatlo po, it will violate the right to privacy po ng mga individual na ating natukoy na persons of interest at meron din po itong kaparusahan under the administrative code na kung ang isang information ay confidential, secret, or top secret ay hindi po ito puwedeng ibahagi basta-basta sa publiko,” Matibag said.

(Third, it would violate the right to privacy of the individuals we have identified as persons of interest. It also carries penalties under the Administrative Code, as information classified as confidential, secret, or top secret cannot simply be disclosed to the public.)

He presented the impeachment court a folder full of paper, saying he holds the confidential report of the task force.

Matibag is the last witness of the prosecution for the Article of Impeachment on the alleged grave threats made by the Vice President against Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

During his cross-examination, Defense counsel Mark Vinluan asked Matibag whether his testimony is premature, noting that the investigation is ongoing.

Matibag denied this. He said that it is clear that the Vice President talked to someone to kill Marcos, Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez if she dies.

Vinluan pressed further, asking Matibag whether this was not trial by publicity.

Matibag responded it was not.

“Kaya nga hindi namin nilalabas ‘yung amin pong confidential at secret na investigation (that’s why we are not revealing the confidential information and secret investigation),” he said.

'Already a confession'

When asked about the gravity and seriousness of the alleged threat, Matibag said that it was no longer a threat but a “confession.”

“Para sa akin po, hindi na ito talaga banta kundi isa na pong confession ng kanyang plano na pagpatay po sa ating Pangulo. Sapagkat makikita naman natin na sinabi niya na meron akong kinausap at pumayag ang kinausap para patayin ang presidente,” Matibag said.

(For me, this is no longer really a threat but rather a confession of her plan to kill our President. Because we can see that she said, “I spoke to someone, and the person I spoke to agreed to kill the President.”)

Following this, Defense counsel Mark Vinluan asked that Matibag’s answer be stricken off the record, saying that he is providing conclusions of law.

For her part, Lead Prosecutor Gerville Luistro said Matibag is testifying on what transpired during the investigation of the special task force.

Vinluan, however, argued that Matibag “knows what he is doing” as he is a lawyer.

“Part of the witness’ response is the use of the term confession, which is a legal term. The witness is a lawyer. He knows exactly what he is doing,” he said.

Impeachment presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero ruled that Matibag’s answer will stay in the record as part of his narration. However, he said the senator-judges should not consider it as a conclusion of law. –NB/RF, GMA News