MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel on Wednesday rested its case on the first article of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag completed two days of testimony before the Senate impeachment court.
Testifying on the ninth day of the trial, Matibag said Duterte’s public admission that she had spoken to someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez was sufficient to establish the impeachment charge of betrayal of public trust.
“The betrayal of public trust as the issue in the impeachment court, we don’t need to investigate even if we pinpoint the person contracted. The betrayal of public trust was already consummated when she publicly admitted,” Matibag testified during cross-examination by defense lawyer Mark Vinluan.
Matibag said identifying the alleged assassin remains necessary for the NBI’s criminal investigation but is not essential to the impeachment proceedings because Duterte herself admitted speaking to a “mamamatay-tao” who agreed to carry out the killings.
“There was already an admission that she contracted a killer. That itself is an admission,” he said, adding that such an act violated the Vice President’s constitutional oath.
The defense moved to strike Matibag’s testimony, arguing that it constituted a legal conclusion. Lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro objected, saying the witness merely answered the defense’s question. Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero denied the motion and ordered that the testimony remain on record.
Matibag said the alleged assassination plot remains an active national security concern because investigators have yet to identify the person Duterte allegedly contacted.
He told senators the NBI has narrowed its list of persons of interest to fewer than 20 individuals and hopes to identify the alleged assassin within three to six months. He added that investigators have interviewed relatives and associates of several persons of interest and are examining possible links to active uniformed personnel, including one member of the Vice President’s Security and Protection Group, as well as possible ties to the alleged Davao Death Squad.
Asked whether the bureau would disclose its investigative leads if subpoenaed by the impeachment court, Matibag said the NBI would review any subpoena and determine what information could legally be released.
During the proceedings, Sen. Robinhood Padilla questioned the credibility of former Davao police officer Arturo Lascañas, suggesting prosecutors avoid presenting witnesses accused of changing their testimony.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson later clarified that although Lascañas had recanted earlier statements during a 2017 Senate inquiry, the committee he chaired did not recommend filing perjury charges against him. Instead, it proposed stronger penalties for false testimony, which were later enacted into law.
After the defense completed its cross-examination, prosecutors waived redirect examination. Luistro said the prosecution had “sufficiently established” that Duterte’s statements constituted a national security concern supporting the impeachment charge of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
The prosecution then formally rested its case on Article IV, the first of four impeachment articles against Duterte.
Outside the session hall, prosecution adviser and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the panel was satisfied with the testimony of its three witnesses.
Before adjourning, the Senate impeachment court subpoenaed former Land Bank branch managers Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano to testify when the trial resumes on July 29. They are expected to become the prosecution’s first witnesses on the next impeachment article involving the alleged misuse of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
