Manila Bulletin
Philippines
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Matibag: 'Ulo denominator' between VP Sara, Mayor Baste translates to serious threat vs PBBM
Philippines
National
Matibag: 'Ulo denominator' between VP Sara, Mayor Baste translates to serious threat vs PBBM
Matibag: 'Ulo denominator' between VP Sara, Mayor Baste translates to serious threat vs PBBM
Published Jul 21, 2026 07:35 pm
At A Glance
- NBI Director Melvin Matibag testifies that remarks by Vice President Sara Duterte and Mayor Sebastian Duterte about "removing the President's head" show a common denominator on alleged threats against President Marcos.
- Prosecution presents video excerpts from October 2024 and April 2026, which Matibag says prove a "serious, active, and continuing" threat, leading to NBI Administrative Order No. 11.
- Despite defense objections, presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero allows the testimony to remain, with Matibag stressing the investigation points to an alleged plot to kill the President.
Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte (Facebook)
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag cited as a common denominator remarks on "removing the President's head" between statements made by Vice President Sara Duterte and her sibling, Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte since 2024.
Matibag raised this point as a witness for the prosecution on Tuesday afternoon, July 21 in the continuing Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte.
He testified on article IV of the articles of impeachment against the respondent, covering the death threats she made against President Marcos and other members of the First Family on Nov. 23, 2024.
Before the Senate impeachment court, the prosecution played separate video excerpts of the mayor’s reported April 12, 2026 statement seeking the President’s “ulo” (head) and the Vice President’s earlier Oct. 18, 2024 remarks about beheading and imagining herself cutting off the Chief Executive'e head.
It was on the strength of these videos that Matibag claimed there was a "serious, active, and continuing” threat against President Marcos.
According to Matibag, the live broadcast of the April 12 RAGE Coalition rally was among the factors that strengthened the basis for issuing NBI Administrative Order No. 11, which created a special task force on threats against the President.
“If I remember it correctly, April 12, na nagsasalita ang mayor ng Davao City na si Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte na sinabi niya na, ‘Isang ulo lang naman ang kailangan namin, at iyan ang ulo ni Bongbong Marcos.’ Iyan po ang aming isinama sa aming factor upang buuin itong Administrative Order No. 11,” he said.
(If I remember correctly, on April 12, Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte said, ‘We only need one head, and that is the head of Bongbong Marcos.’ That was one of the factors we included in forming Administrative Order No. 11.)
"Yan pong video na yan ay aming naikumpara sa mga naging pahayag ng ating Bise Presidente na kung saan mayroon din po kaming videong binalikan na ang ating Bise Presidente ay nagre-refer din po sa pagtanggal ng ulo ng atin pong Presidente," added the witness.
(That video was compared with the statements of our Vice President, where we also reviewed footage in which the Vice President referred to removing the head of our President.)
"Kung kaya't nakita namin po ang pagkakahambing ng statement po ng atin pong mayor at ng Vice President Sara Duterte," Matibag said during his direct examination.
(That is why we saw the similarity between the statement of our mayor and that of Vice President Sara Duterte.)
In one of the striking portions of the Vice President’s Oct. 18, 2024 press conference, she said, “Gusto kong tanggalin ’yung ulo niya (I want to behead him),” and “I imagined myself cutting his head," in reference to her one-time political ally Marcos.
Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan repeatedly objected to the attempt to connect the videos, and later moved to strike out part of Matibag’s answer.
Presiding officer Senator Francis 'Chiz' Escudero rejected this motion.
“The objection is overruled, and the motion to strike is denied. Let it remain in the records for the appreciation of the senator-judges as to the weight they will give that particular part of the witness’ testimony,” he said.
The presiding officer separately clarified that Matibag was not yet NBI director during the bureau’s earlier investigation. The latter was appointed in February 2026.
Matibag could testify that the agency had conducted the probe, but not to the truth of matters outside his personal knowledge.
He described the investigation as having moved beyond a mere threat into an alleged plot against the President.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag (Senate PRIB)
“May pangyayari po na ating nasaksihan na nagpatunay na ang banta ay seryoso. Katunayan, ang aming imbestigasyon ay tumawid na sa hindi banta kundi isang plano talaga na patayin ang Pangulo ng Pilipinas,” Matibag told the court.
(There was an incident we witnessed that proved the threat was serious. In fact, our investigation has crossed over from being a threat to an actual plan to kill the President of the Philippines.)