NBI chief denies owning US mansion

MANILA, Philippines — National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag yesterday described as “fake news” and “malicious” reports that he and his wife own a multimillion-dollar property in the United States.

“I categorically deny that. We don’t have any property abroad,” Matibag said. “All of our properties are declared in our statement of assets, liabilities and net worth. You can get a copy of my SALN. It’s just there.”

Reports circulated online that one “Melvin Matibag” bought a mansion in 2004 at the affluent Stevenson Ranch in California.

But that Melvin Matibag has a middle name that starts with B and a wife named Anna Marie Laman.

The NBI chief’s middle name is Alvarez. He is married to Laguna 1st District Rep. Maria Rene Ann Lourdes Matibag.

Matibag said a barrage of fake news started circulating on social media when he testified during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate.

“The reason for that news is to discredit my credibility as a witness, which is totally unrelated to my testimony,” Matibag said.

“What I testified is something already on record at the NBI. What they’re trying to establish is this is hearsay because I’m not the NBI director then. The exception to the hearsay rule is that I’m the custodian now and, being the NBI director, I can testify on documents turned over to me by my predecessors,” he added.

The rumor was first posted by pro-Duterte vlogger Sass Sassot and was picked up by a television network.

Sassot apologized to Matibag in a Facebook post.

The media outlet rectified its error multiple times, but Matibag said he is not discounting the possibility of filing charges against the television network.

“The news network is here covering. So I hope you do something about it. Otherwise, I will be the one doing something about it. It’s as simple as that,” Matibag said.