Sara counsel flags alleged bias in NBI cash probe

Vice President Sara Duterte’s lawyer on Wednesday accused National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag of political bias in the bureau’s investigation into allegations that dismissed police officer Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. delivered suitcases of cash to members of the Duterte family.

In a statement, lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim said Matibag’s past opinion articles criticizing Duterte and his public disclosures about the ongoing investigation raised concerns about the bureau chief’s impartiality, particularly as the Vice President faces an impeachment trial.

“As shown in the impeachment case, Director Matibag has previously written scathing opinion articles against the Vice President, and is evidently politically biased against her,” Lim said.

“With respect, his current publicity on the progress of what is supposed to be a live investigation—showing support for Mr. Gracioso and implying guilt to the Vice President and her family, simultaneous with the impeachment trial—appears to confirm this bias,” he added.

Lim said the NBI was expected to conduct its investigation professionally and without partisan influence, warning against using the agency to advance political interests.

The statement came two days after Matibag publicly discussed the NBI’s efforts to trace the alleged flow of money and examine properties supposedly linked to the Duterte family. The bureau is looking into whether the properties could be connected to possible money laundering and whether their values are consistent with Duterte’s declared assets.

Gracioso, a former security aide to ex-House speaker Lord Allan Velasco, has alleged that he delivered suitcases containing cash to Duterte, her brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, and their father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, on Velasco’s instructions. The individuals named in the allegations have denied them, while Velasco’s camp has rejected the accusations.

In a letter dated 7 October, Lim, alongside lawyer Clifford Chua, reserved their objections to the NBI's jurisdiction and raised an alleged conflict of interest against Matibag.

“This submission is made ad cautelam and without prejudice to the issue of the NBI's lack of jurisdiction over our client as the Vice President, and this investigation, under relevant laws,” the letter addressed to the NBI chief read.

“With respect, this is also without prejudice to the Honorable Director's conflict of interest against our client, in the form of published bias against her in his past newspaper columns, and in his recent actions,” it added.

The NBI has yet to respond to Lim’s statement as of press time.