Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday flagged National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag over the bureau’s tendency to expand its jurisdiction in investigating crimes.
This came after Cayetano noted that the bureau has limited jurisdiction to investigate cases unless directed by the President or the Secretary of Justice “to undertake investigation of any crime when public interest so requires.”
“Why do they (the law) have to say ‘any crime’ if you can investigate any crime after all? It seems that you’re expanding your jurisdiction by yourself,” Cayetano told Matibag, who took the witness stand on the eighth day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on July 21, 2026.
Cayetano raised the issue after Matibag said the NBI can investigate any crime motu proprio or of its own accord.
“Lahat ng mga pumapasok sa amin na mga krimen ay amin pong pwedeng imbestigahan motu proprio. Ganon din po y’ung mga krimen na mayroon pong nagreklamo,” Matibag said.
Cayetano, however, said the NBI director’s answer runs contrary to Republic Act No. 10867, the law that defines the bureau’s powers and functions.
“Section 4, the NBI shall have the following powers and functions. Undertake and investigate the detection of crimes and offenses enumerated under Section 5,” the senator-judge said, reading portions of the law.
He noted that Section 5 specifically lists the crimes under the NBI’s jurisdiction, including “human trafficking cases in all airports, extrajudicial, extra-legal killings committed by state security forces against media practitioners activities, killings of justices and judges, violation of the Cyber Crime Prevention Act, cases from the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council (IAGCC) and violations of the Anti-Dummy Law.”
Cayetano said the same provision also covers “Cases involving threats, security assaults against person of the president, vice president, senate president, speaker of the house, chief justices… Transnational crimes pursuant to existing international agreements, identification of dead victims in case of mass fatalities, incidents caused by natural disaster, and violation of commercial, economic, financial, white collar crimes.”
“Nandiyan iyong law. So, exclusive yung enumeration. Then it adds ‘Provided, however, that the Presidnt or Secretary of Justice may direct the NBI to undertake investigation of any crime when public interest so requires.’ So hindi ba limited ang pwede niyong imbestigahan except na ang Department of Justice at Presidente ang pwede mag-atas?” Cayetano said.
Matibag acknowledged that the law contains the list cited by Cayetano but maintained that it does not limit the bureau’s authority.
“Yes. Y’ung pong ating listahan na iyan, tama po, nandiyan. Subalit hindi naman po sinasabi na nalilimita diyan ang aming pong pag-imbestiga,” Matibag answered.
“We can still help and coordinate in the same way that if we are the primary investigating body,” he added.
Cayetano disagreed, saying Matibag’s interpretation runs counter to basic legal principles.
“Director, if that’s your interpretation, that goes against what they taught us in law school na kapag exclusive y’ung enumeration, you cannot add,” he said.
The NBI is currently conducting two separate investigations involving Cayetano himself: One concerns alleged unliquidated funds and procurement irregularities related to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, while the other involves alleged ghost flood control projects in the City of Taguig where his wife, Lani Cayetano, serves as mayor.
Why investigate selected VP statements?
Cayetano also asked Matibag about the NBI’s handling of Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, which she made during a November 23, 2024 video.
“Paano y’ung proseso niyo or yung naging thinking niyo na itong ipapapatay y’ung Presidente [ay] pinaniniwalaan ko, pero itong siya ang papatayin [ay] hindi ko paniniwalaan, at itong graft and corruption [ay] hindi ko rin paniniwalaan. What’s the process there?” the senator said.
Matibag replied that the bureau’s investigation focused on the alleged threats against the three personalities and the purported hired assassin, stressing that the vice president said the statements were not a joke and prompted him to seek accountability under the law.
Cayetano then asked why the NBI did not evaluate Duterte’s remarks in their entirety — her allegations of massive corruption in government, her claim that there were threats against her life, and her alleged threats against the three officials.
Matibag maintained that the bureau treated the alleged threats against the president as a national security matter.
“I won’t argue with you,” Cayetano said. “Iyan ang proseso niyo. But in the meantime, there were three statements – massive corruption, kung papatayin siya, patayin (ang tatlo). So, ang focus doon sa patayin y’ung tatlo, kung papatayin siya. In the meantime, tumotoo y’ung massive corruption at lumabas (ang flood control scam) afterwards.”