ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'We meant no offense': Defense panel wanted to check Matibag's credibility, bias

'We meant no offense': Defense panel wanted to check Matibag's credibility, bias

Published Jul 21, 2026 10:14 pm
Defense spokesman Atty. Michael Poa says public opinion may affect how Vice President Sara Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial is perceived, while maintaining that senator-judges should decide the case based on evidence. (Mark Balmores / Manila Bulletin)
Defense spokesman Atty. Michael Poa says public opinion may affect how Vice President Sara Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial is perceived, while maintaining that senator-judges should decide the case based on evidence. (Mark Balmores / Manila Bulletin)
Bringing up the wife of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag during his cross-examination in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte wasn't meant to rile up the witness, the respondent's defense team said.
Defense team spokesperson Michael Poa explained that they just have to test Matibag's credibility and bias, if any, as the Prosecution's witness during the continuing impeachment proceedings on Tuesday, July 21.
"We meant no offense and I hope none was taken kay Director Matibag. We respect that, except that siyempre sa (of course in) cross-examination we really have to test not just credibility but also bias," Poa said in a post-impeachment trial press briefing.
When asked if they were able to prove such bias or not, Poa said they leave it to the appreciation of the Senator judges.
"I don't want to say whether we proved it or we were able to prove that or not, I think it's really for the appreciation and also I don't want to say that in fairness na rin to Director Matibag. So, we will just leave it up to the impeachment court to take what they got from that)," Poa said.
"But whether or not we were able to show that, I think that's really for the impeachment court's appreciation. I don't want to say we did, I don't want to say we did not because that will be of course self serving on our part," the lawyer also said.
During the cross-examination on Matibag, Duterte's defense counsel Mark Vinluan questioned the witness over a potential conflict of interest after the NBI chief acknowledged that his wife, Laguna 1st district Rep. Maria Rene Ann Matibag, was indeed among the endorsers of House Resolution (HR) No. 989 which sought to impeach the Vice President.
In one of the sequences during the cross, Matibag requested to state something "in order to save time" as Vinluan asked him credibility-testing questions to test the freedom from bias, if any.
Matibag stated: "In order to save time in the question of the defense counsel, I think he's going to the position if my wife endorses the articles of impeachment, so that we save time and it's on record in matter of public notice: She is my wife, she's one of the endorsers of the impeachment."

Targets met

The defense team spokesperson said the defense panel was satisfied over the day's proceedings, saying they were able to meet their targets.
"At least for this first half of the cross-examination, we were able to meet our targets. Masaya naman kami sa nangyari (We are happy with what happened). But definitely hindi pa tayo tapos, so itutuloy pa natin (it is not yet done, so we will contiue) tomorrow and we'll see how things go," Poa said.
Without divulging anything, Poa said they are hoping to meet further targets on Wednesday.
"For tomorrow yes. Meron tayong mga hindi pa nailabas kanina so hopefully mailabas natin lahat tomorrow (There are still things that we have not released, so hopefully tomorrow we will be able to show it)," Poa said.

Related Tags

MELVIN MATIBAG impeachment trial Vice President Sara Duterte Michael Poa Defense panel
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; } }

{{ static_articles_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.