NATIONAL Bureau or Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Tuesday warned the nation of what he described as the “kinetic force” impact of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s assassination threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on her supporters.
He told the Senate impeachment court that followers of the Vice President and of the Duterte family have been repeating and spreading the assassination declarations she made in an online news conference on Nov. 23, 2024.
“Ang pagbabanta ng ating Vice President ay nagkaroon po ng tinatawag natin na epekto. It is a kinetic force na kung saan yung mga nakarinig ng kanyang pagbabanta ay gumagawa na rin at nagbabanta,” he said.
This was what prompted him to create a special task force to look into what he called the “serious, active and continuing” threat on the life of President Marcos, he said.
“That is the very purpose of the task force, to monitor all the threats na lumalabas po ngayon, at araw-araw nga may nakikita tayong threats sa social media, sa mga pahayag sa rallies. Ito ay tuloy-tuloy po na banta sa ating Pangulo na umabot na po na banta sa ating national security,” he said.
Asked by lead House Prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas what he meant by “kinetic force,” Matibag said the Vice President’s assassination statements are having an effect on her supporters for them to spread chaos and disrespect for law and order.
“Ang kanila pong aksiyon ay nagkakaron po ng epekto para kumilos po ang mga nakakarinig, ang kanilang mga suporter para maghasik po ng ligalig at kaguluhan sa ating bansa at hindi na nirerespeto ang ating Konstitusyon at wala na rin pong pagtingin sa ating democratic process,” he said.
The NBI chief cited the RAGE Coalition rally held in Cebu in May and led by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
He quoted the mayor as telling the rally: “Isa lang ang ulong kailangan namin, ang ulo ni Bongbong Marcos.”
Matibag said the live broadcast of the event was heard by about 691,000.
“Dun na po papasok yung tinatawag ko nga na kinetic force na maaaring magkaroon po ng reaksiyon mga taong nanonood na hindi po maganda at makakagulo po sa pag-promote natin ng law and order,” he said.
“691,000, ganun na po kalawak ang resulta ng paghahasik ng ligalig at pagbabanta sa kaayusan at pati na rin po sa seguridad ng ating Pangulo,” he said.
He added that among the rally participants were some senators, former Quezon City congressman Mike Defensor and his party-mates in PDP-Laban when he was its member.
Asked by Luistro what RAGE means, Matibag said, “Galit at boot.)
Impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero inquired what RAGE stands for.
Matibag answered that it does not match with the group’s name.
“Hindi po tumutugma sa acronym nila – Reform Alliance for Good Governance, medyo malayo po,” he said.
metrosundaily
