Matibag defends request to reschedule impeachment testimony
MANILA, Philippines — National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag has defended his request to advance his appearance before the Senate impeachment court as a witness.
He said his overseas engagement is important in helping the Philippines stay off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) money laundering “grey list.”
This came after senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano called his request “in bad taste,” criticizing Matibag for allegedly “dictating” the schedule of the Senate impeachment court.
Matibag, in response, said the conference could help the country sustain last year’s exit from the grey list.
“So point system po 'yan e. 'Yung pagdalo ko po roon is a point dahil next year po we will be again subjected to audit kung mananatili po tayong out of the list, kaya importante doon,” Matibag said.
(So that’s a point system. My attendance there is a point because next year we will again be subjected to an audit to determine whether we will remain off the list, so it is important.)
The FATF is a France-based intergovernmental organization with 40 members that monitors and classifies countries based on their efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and the financing of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2025, the Philippines was removed from the FATF’s “grey list” of countries subject to increased monitoring of financial transactions.
Not ‘dictating’
Matibag also reacted to the use of the word “dictating” and maintained that he had respectfully conveyed his request.
“Nagtataka rin po ako kung bakit naman ganon, kasi I respectfully requested the prosecution na kung maaari po sana paagahin yung aking pagtestigo para mapuntahan ko po yung parehas na kaganapan,” Matibag told dzRH on Tuesday, July 14.
(I was confused by that because I respectfully requested the prosecution to move my testimony earlier so I could attend both events.)
Matibag had sent a letter to the House prosecutors requesting an earlier schedule for his appearance. On Monday, July 13, the prosecution panel formally asked the Senate impeachment court to move Matibag’s appearance from Wednesday, July 15, to Tuesday, July 14.
The House prosecutors cited a regional summit on scam compounds and transnational organized crime in Thailand, to which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had invited the NBI.
The Senate impeachment court eventually ruled that Matibag’s appearance be moved to July 20.
Matibag is set to appear as a witness on the alleged grave threats made by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
On Tuesday, July 14, the impeachment trial against the vice president entered its fifth day out of the scheduled 92 trial days. Duterte is facing four Articles of Impeachment: alleged grave threats, unexplained wealth, misuse of confidential funds, and graft and corruption.
A single guilty finding on any of the Articles of Impeachment is enough to convict Duterte. Conviction, however, requires a two-thirds vote of the senator-judges.
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