NBI: Threats vs Marcos threaten nat’l security
‘We view the threats as serious, active and continuing with respect to the President, and because it is serious, active and continuing, it becomes a threat to our national security.’
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‘We view the threats as serious, active and continuing with respect to the President, and because it is serious, active and continuing, it becomes a threat to our national security.’
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National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag on Tuesday told the Senate impeachment court that threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. constitute threats to national security, citing public statements made by Vice President Sara Duterte and her brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
“Whatever threat to our President is a threat to our national security,” Matibag testified during the presentation of evidence on Article IV of the impeachment complaint, which concerns alleged grave threats.
The House prosecution panel presented video recordings of separate public statements made by the Duterte siblings.
Matibag said the NBI considered the threats “serious, active and continuing.”
F“We view the threats as serious, active and continuing with respect to the President, and because it is serious, active and continuing, it becomes a threat to our national security,” he told the court.
The NBI’s investigation initially stemmed from Vice President Duterte’s online press conference of November 2024 during which she said she had instructed an unidentified person to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then House Speaker Martin Romualdez should she herself be killed.
The bureau also examined Duterte’s “Drag Me to Hell” press conference of 17 October 2024 where she described her relationship with Marcos as “toxic” and said, “I just imagined myself cutting off his head.”
Matibag likewise cited remarks made by Mayor Duterte during the launch of the Reform Alliance for Good Governance (RAGE) Coalition on 12 April 2026 where he told supporters: “We only want one head, the head of Bongbong Marcos.”
Asked by House prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro whether both incidents formed part of the NBI’s investigation, Matibag replied in the affirmative.
He said the bureau concluded that the Vice President’s statements suggested premeditation rather than mere rhetoric.
“Our observation was that it was no longer simply a threat but a plan because it was an announcement of the Vice President’s intent to kill the President and the other individuals she mentioned,” Matibag said.
He also testified that Duterte’s statements had a “kinetic force,” encouraging similar threats by others, including members of her own family.
Because of the continuing threats circulating on social media and other public platforms, the NBI created a special task force under Administrative Order No. 11 to monitor and investigate such incidents, Matibag said.
