Rep. Duterte asks NBI, Matibag to inhibit from probe into Gracioso’s claims

MANILA — The camp of Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte has asked the National Bureau of Investigation and its chief Melvin Matibag to inhibit from the probe into the claims of dismissed police officer Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. against members of the Duterte family. 

In a statement on his social media account, Duterte said his lawyers made a formal request to ensure that the investigation is “fair, impartial and credible”.

“This request is not intended to prevent any investigation or evade accountability. It is about ensuring that the investigation is fair, impartial, and credible,” the lawmaker said. 

“We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for the same standards of fairness and impartiality that every Filipino deserves,” he added. 

Duterte cited three grounds for their request, namely alleged prejudgment, denial of a fair opportunity to respond, and reasonable apprehension of bias. 

The lawmaker noted that Matibag publicly described Gracioso’s allegations as supposedly “99% true” even while the investigation was still ongoing.

He added that Gracioso’s affidavit was already publicized even before they received a copy on Oct. 5, after their lawyers formally requested it.  

He also pointed out that Matibag’s previous public engagements against Vice President Sara Duterte, including his admission that he wrote three columns about her in 2024, “raise legitimate questions about his ability to remain completely impartial in an investigation involving members of the Duterte family.” 

Rep. Duterte said the NBI must investigate based on evidence, not public declarations. 

“It must establish facts, not validate accusations simply because they have been repeatedly aired in the media. An investigation is supposed to determine the truth. It should not begin with the investigator appearing to have already decided what that truth is,” he added. 

“If the NBI is confident in the integrity of its investigation, then there should be no reason to resist a reasonable request for voluntary inhibition. Public trust in law enforcement depends not only on the results of an investigation but also on the credibility and impartiality of those conducting it,” Duterte added. 

The Davao City solon noted that when he filed libel and cyberlibel complaints against Matibag and others before the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office, the NBI chief had sought the inhibition of the handling prosecutor and the transfer of the complaints to another prosecution office to ensure impartiality.

“We respected that position because we understand the importance of impartiality in the administration of justice. Now, I am asking for the same principle to be applied,” Duterte said. 

“If a perceived family connection was sufficient reason for Matibag to question the impartiality of a prosecutor, why should his own public statements and previous engagements against my family not be considered legitimate grounds to question his impartiality as an investigator? This is not about applying different standards to different people. It is about applying the same standard to everyone. What is good for the prosecutor should also be good for the investigator,” he added. 

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

Matibag said Duterte’s request “has no basis in law, and the investigation continues.”

“Inhibition, and the ‘cold neutrality’ counsel invokes, are standards for those who judge. The NBI does not judge. It establishes facts,” Matibag said. 

“Whether there is probable cause is for the prosecutor or the Ombudsman to decide, and should the matter reach that stage, Rep. Duterte will have every opportunity to answer there. The law gives the Bureau the authority to investigate, and no law requires it to set that authority aside,” he said. 

He said the NBI was testing the allegations “against documents, records and testimony.”

“Rep. Duterte has been denied nothing the law gives him at this stage. He has had the affidavit since October 5, and the Bureau’s invitation to give his side stands. The formal right to answer the evidence belongs to the preliminary investigation, should one be conducted,” the NBI chief said. 

Matibag added that the opinion columns cited by Duterte “bear on no fact in Mr. Gracioso’s affidavit, and no finding of the bureau will rest on anything but evidence.” 

The NBI chief also asserted that the comparison with the Davao City prosecutor “does not hold.” 

“That prosecutor was to rule on a complaint, and he is a first cousin of the former President’s partner. That is a specific family relationship of the kind the rules recognize,” he said.