MANILA – The House prosecution panel on Wednesday formally concluded its presentation of evidence on the impeachment charge involving Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., after wrapping up the testimony of its final witness, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag.

Lead prosecutor Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro informed the Senate impeachment court that the prosecution would no longer conduct a redirect examination of Matibag.

“The prosecution finds it unnecessary to conduct redirect examination,” Luistro said.

Matibag was the third and final witness presented by the prosecution under the impeachment article stemming from Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 statement that she had arranged for someone to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez if she herself were killed.

Before Matibag’s testimony, the prosecution presented NBI Senior Agent John Mark Calilung, who authenticated the recording of Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 online press conference, and NBI Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc, who testified on the bureau’s investigation that led to the filing of complaints for grave threats and inciting to sedition before the Department of Justice.

During Wednesday’s cross-examination, the defense questioned the NBI’s findings, arguing that Duterte’s statements had been taken out of context and challenging the bureau’s continuing investigation into the alleged threats.

Matibag, however, defended the NBI’s assessment, saying law enforcement authorities cannot ignore statements that could endanger public safety.

“Mahirap po para sa aming law enforcement na ’yung ganyang mga statement ay aming pong babalewalain,” he said.

To illustrate the bureau’s approach, Matibag compared the situation to how authorities respond to bomb jokes, stressing that potentially threatening statements must be evaluated rather than dismissed.

He also revealed that the NBI had investigated Duterte’s own claims that her life was under threat and had twice invited her to assist in the investigation, but she did not appear.

“I was informed by the investigating officers that it was considered, the threat that was mentioned to the Vice President. In fact, personalities were subpoenaed, including the Vice President two times, in order to aid the [NBI] in this investigation. However, to no avail, there was no attendance from the personalities that was invited,” he shared.

Matibag further maintained that Duterte’s public admissions alone were sufficient to constitute betrayal of public trust, regardless of whether investigators ultimately identify the individual she allegedly asked to kill the President.

“The betrayal of public trust, as the issue in the impeachment court, we don’t need to investigate even if we pinpointed the person contracted,” Matibag said.

“Because the point being is, the betrayal of public trust was already been consummated when she publicly admitted, there is already an admission that she contracted a killer, a mamamatay-tao, an assassin, to kill the President,” he added.

During his direct testimony on Tuesday, Matibag disclosed that the NBI’s special task force had already identified several persons of interest who could help determine the identity of the individual Duterte allegedly contacted after publicly claiming she had instructed someone to kill President Marcos if she herself were killed.

He described the investigation as “continuing and active” and said revealing the identities of those persons of interest could compromise the probe, expose intelligence assets, and endanger informants.

Matibag testified that he created the special NBI task force after assuming office because the bureau had determined that the alleged threats against the President had become a national security concern requiring a coordinated investigation involving multiple NBI units.

According to Matibag, the task force assessed the alleged threats using five protective intelligence factors: the gravity of the threat, the identity of the person making it, capability, motive or intent, and what investigators described as a pattern of violence.

The bureau also reviewed Duterte’s public statements before and after Nov. 23, 2024, including her earlier remark about wanting to cut off President Marcos’ head, along with other information that investigators said provided context to the alleged threats.

Matibag testified that the most significant aspect of Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024 statement was her claim that she had already spoken to someone who agreed to carry out the killings, distinguishing it from a spontaneous expression of anger and prompting the NBI to continue investigating the identity of the alleged contact.

With Matibag’s testimony concluded, the House prosecution formally rested its case on the impeachment article concerning Duterte’s alleged threats and is expected to proceed with the remaining charges, beginning with allegations involving her use of confidential funds.