Matibag, NBI inhibition from Gracioso probe pushed

Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte said Thursday that his camp had asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and its director, Melvin Matibag, to inhibit from the probe into claims that he received cash-filled suitcases starting in 2018.

The allegations came from dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso, who claimed to have worked for former House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. In an affidavit submitted to the NBI, Gracioso said he delivered an estimated P100 million to Duterte on Velasco’s orders.

In a lengthy social media post, Duterte said the request was intended not to derail the investigation but to preserve its credibility and ensure impartiality.

He cited three grounds for the request, including Matibag’s public statement that Gracioso’s allegations were “99 percent true” before the investigation had reached a conclusion.

Matibag reportedly based the remark on a polygraph examination but later clarified that the test did not determine the truthfulness of the accusations.

“An investigator cannot publicly suggest a conclusion before completing the investigation and still expect the public to have full confidence in his impartiality,” Duterte wrote.

No special treatment

He also questioned the NBI’s failure to give his camp a timely opportunity to respond, saying his lawyers received a copy of Gracioso’s affidavit only on 5 October, after requesting it.

Duterte further cited Matibag’s public engagements concerning Vice President Sara Duterte, recalling that the NBI director had been identified as the author of three columns about her in 2024.

He said his camp was not seeking “special treatment” but the same standards of fairness afforded every Filipino. Investigations, he added, should establish the truth rather than treat accusations as facts simply because they had been repeatedly aired in the media.

Duterte recalled that Matibag had sought the inhibition of a Davao City prosecutor handling libel and cyberlibel complaints against him, citing the prosecutor’s family relationship with his father’s partner.

“We are simply asking Matibag to practice the same principle he invoked — when there is reasonable perception of bias, inhibition is the responsible course of action,” he added.