THE camp of Vice President Sara Duterte questioned the impartiality of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, amid the bureau’s investigation into claims made by dismissed police officer Rudolfo Gracioso.
In a statement, Duterte’s counsel, Attorney Paul Lawrence Lim, said Matibag was “heavily burdened with a conflict of interest” in handling the investigation.
“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 they expected the NBI to conduct its investigation professionally and without political considerations, stressing that the agency should not be used for partisan purposes.
Gracioso, a former security aide of former House Speaker Lord Alan Velasco, claimed that he delivered millions of pesos in cash to members of the Duterte family, including Davao City Representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and former president Rodrigo Duterte, when the latter was still the head of the House of Representatives.
Matibag earlier said investigators had found possible discrepancies between the properties declared by Duterte in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and the actual number of land assets allegedly owned by her and her family.
He also cited an alleged pattern of land banking, in which funds are invested in the purchase of parcels of land.
On Tuesday, October 13, Duterte denied owning the properties allegedly identified by Gracioso, which were the subject of the NBI investigation. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)