MANILA, Philippines – The defense team of Sara Duterte centered its cross-examination on Tuesday, July 21, by pounding on National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag’s lack of personal knowledge of some aspects of the NBI’s probe into the Vice President’s alleged grave threats.
During his cross-examination, defense lawyer Mark Vinluan laid out the NBI director’s lack of personal knowledge by asking him a series of queries. First, Vinluan asked Matibag about the 10 subpoenas issued to the personalities who attended Duterte’s 2024 press conference, where she allegedly threatened President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family.
Each time Matibag said he lacked personal knowledge of a specific document flashed on the screen, the defense put an “X” emoji on it.
The NBI director said he was also not the signatory to the NBI subpoenas because he was not yet appointed at the time.
“The witness already testified that he has no personal knowledge about the first investigation. And all his testimonies will be based only on the records existing in the NBI,” lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro interjected during the trial.
