Cayetano says NBI chief Matibag should also be suspended: ‘He is more a suspect than General Mao’

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday, May 15, called on Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla to suspend National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag alongside Acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca, saying the NBI chief is more culpable in the Senate shooting incident than the official the Ombudsman had already moved against.

“Suspend also the NBI Director, because he is more a suspect than General Mao dito,” Cayetano said in a virtual press conference, responding directly to Remulla’s earlier announcement of a six-month preventive suspension against Aplasca.

Cayetano said the Ombudsman’s suspension of Aplasca—while not necessarily invalid—creates an uneven standard of accountability if Matibag is left untouched, given the NBI Director’s alleged role in the events that led to the shooting.

“We do not want to set a bad example in the independent investigation,” Cayetano said, adding that the Senate cannot be left defenseless during the impeachment trial set to begin Monday if the OSAA is effectively decapitated while the NBI faces no equivalent sanction.

The Senate President leveled a direct accusation against Matibag, saying the NBI Director repeatedly lied to him, to the senators, and to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the bureau’s presence at the Senate and GSIS premises.

“Sunod-sunod ang kasinungalingan po ni NBI Director. I believe he’s lying to the President,” Cayetano said, adding that he personally told Marcos during a phone call that the NBI had not been truthful with the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Senate President said he still gives the President the benefit of the doubt, believing Marcos was told to stand down and passed that order on in good faith—but that those below the President may have had their own agenda.

“I believe the President told him to stand down. But anyone below the President could have said, ‘No, ako sundin mo, tumuloy kayo dun,'” Cayetano said, adding that Matibag could have called him to allay concerns about the NBI’s presence but chose not to.

Cayetano closed his appeal to the Ombudsman by stressing that a truly independent investigation cannot proceed with Aplasca suspended while Matibag—whom he called the bigger suspect—remains in his post and capable of influencing the outcome.

“There will be no independent investigation while the NBI officials—officials ha, hindi lang po ‘yung Director, ‘yung pong head ng transnational crimes—hanggang hindi po sila sinu-suspend, tapos ang sinu-suspend po ng OSAA sa Senate,” he stressed.