ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Defensor can't use politics as shield from illegal activities — NBI chief

Defensor can't use politics as shield from illegal activities — NBI chief

Published May 1, 2026 10:58 am
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin A. Matibag said former congressman Mike Defensor cannot use politics as a shield from being held liable for alleged illegal activities.
Matibag pointed this out during a DZMM interview on Friday, May 1, as he said the NBI will file human trafficking cases against Defensor over his alleged involvement with Chicago Family KTV in Pasig City that was raided by the law enforcement agency last April 21 and where 54 women engaged in sex trafficking were rescued.
“Hindi natin pinagbabawalan ang tao na magcriticize po sa gobyerno (We do not prohibit . That’s part of the democratic process. Marami naman po nagki-criticize sa gobyerno (There are many who criticize the government),” said Matibag.
“Pero kung may illegal kang ginagawa, panagutan mo (But, if you did something illegal, you have to held liable),” stressed the NBI director.
Matibag said the NBI will directly file before the Prosecutor’s Office of Pasig City a complaint against Defensor who will be included as one of the respondents in the case against those who who were earlier charged.
“Kung ano po ‘yung hinaharap na kaso ng mga kinasuhan na ay masasama po siya diyan (Defensor will be charged with whatever charges were filed against those initially charged).
Last week, the NBI filed charges against several persons in connection with the raid including his wife, Zerrin Development Corp. chairman and president Julie Rose Defensor, and their son Miguel.
The NBI chief said that the KTV is located in Cliffpoint Square which is operated by Cliffpoint Development Corp. where the former congressman sits as the chairman.
During investigation, the NBI chief said “Cliffpoint Development Corp., Chicago KTV, ‘yung officers po and directors po intertwined (Cliffpoint Development Corp. and Chicago KTV have officers and directors who are intertwined).”
Meanwhile, the director defended why Defensor was not among those charged last week.
Matibag explained that the NBI had to conduct a case build-up to determine who should also be held liable.
“We are governed by the Memorandum Circular No. 20 of the Department of Justice kung saan sinusunod na rin po namin ‘yung tinatawag na reasonable certainty of conviction (where we follow the rule that reasonable certainty of conviction should be determined),” he said.
“So ‘yung mga tingin po namin na hindi pa pumapasa doon sa standard na ‘yun na reasonable certainty of conviction ay hindi pa po namin isinama (So we did not include (So we did not include yet those we found have not met the standard of reasonable certainty of conviction),” he added.

Related Tags

NBI NBI DIRECTOR MELVIN MATIBAG
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.