NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Tuesday told the Senate impeachment court he is “100 percent” certain that Vice President Sara Z. Duterte had spoken to someone about carrying out the alleged killings of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
The statement came during the interpellation of senator-judge Bam Aquino, who asked Matibag for his professional assessment of the probability that Duterte had indeed spoken to someone, even as the NBI’s investigation remains open and continuing.
Aquino noted that an ongoing investigation could still lead to different conclusions and asked Matibag to assign a percentage to the likelihood that Duterte had actually contacted a person to carry out the killings.
“Sa inyo pong professional assessment, anong porsyento, what percentage is the probability na meron ngang nakausap na tao ang bise presidente para gawin ’yung mga pagpatay?” Aquino asked.
Matibag replied that, based on Duterte’s own public statements, he had no doubt that such a conversation took place.
“Base po mismo sa pahayag ng bise presidente, nakasisiguro po na merong kinausap,” he said.
When Aquino asked him to express that assessment in percentage terms, Matibag answered, “100 percent po, sapagkat siya na mismo ang nagsabi ng kanyang plano na siya ay may kinausap na papatay at pumayag ’yung papatay sa kanilang pag-uusap.”
The prosecution has argued that Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 remarks, in which she said she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, the First Lady and Romualdez if she herself were killed, constitute an impeachable offense under the article charging her with betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and high crime.
Matibag is the prosecution’s final witness on the impeachment article involving Duterte’s alleged threats against the country’s top officials.
metrosundaily
