ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Thank you, pañero!': Ridon cheekily thanks defense lawyer for 'strengthening' Matibag testimony

'Thank you, pañero!': Ridon cheekily thanks defense lawyer for 'strengthening' Matibag testimony

Published Jul 22, 2026 04:53 pm

At A Glance

  • Rep. Terry Ridon thanks defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, saying his cross-examination of NBI Director Melvin Matibag reinforced testimony that Vice President Sara Duterte made threats against President Marcos and his family.
  • Article IV of the impeachment trial covers grave threats and inciting to sedition, with Ridon stressing Duterte's actions amounted to betrayal of public trust.
  • NBI probe formed a special task force on alleged assassination plots, with Matibag clarifying his knowledge came from official records since he became director only in 2026.
Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan (left), Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (Senate PRIB, MANILA BULLETIN)
Defense lawyer Mark Vinluan (left), Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (Senate PRIB, MANILA BULLETIN)


House prosecutor Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon can't help but thank one of Vice President Sara Duterte's defense lawyers for supposed bolstering the prosecution panel's case against the respondent.
This, after defense lawyer Mark Vinluan wrapped up on Wednesday, July 22 his cross-examination on National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag, the prosecution’s final witness for article IV of the articles of impeachment.
"Salamat sa pagtatanong ni Atty Mark Vinluan kay NBI Director Matibag, lalong lumakas ang testimonya niya na mayroong aktwal na pagbabanta ang Pangalawang Pangulo laban sa Pangulo at kanyang pamilya," the lawyer-congressman said.
(Thanks to the questioning of Atty. Mark Vinluan to NBI Director Matibag, his testimony became even stronger that the Vice President made actual threats against the President .)
Article IV covers the grave threats and inciting to sedition allegations against Duterte. This stemmed from her Nov. 23, 2024 death threats against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The NBI was the main agency that investigated these threats.
Ridon claimed that Matibag was able to show the court, "Tuloy-tuloy na pagbabanta laban sa Pangulo mula sa Pangalawang Pangulo at kanyang pamilya."
([There are] continuous threats against the President from the Vice President and her family.)
"Sa kanya ring pagtatanong napalitaw na talagang betrayal of public trust ang naging gawi ng Pangalawang Pangulo laban sa Pangulo," Ridon said of Vinluan.
(Through his questioning, it was also revealed that the Vice President’s actions against the President truly amounted to betrayal of public trust.)
Betrayal of public trust is an impeachable offense.
"Salamat at nakahanap kami ng kakampi mula sa depensa. Akala namin kalaban, kakampi pala, kaya maraming salamat," Ridon added in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
(Thank you that we found an ally from the defense. We thought they were opponents, but they turned out to be allies, so thank you very much.)
Matibag underwent direct examination from the prosecution on Tuesday, July 21. He was cross-examined on Tuesday and Wednesday.
After a short huddle, the prosecution team told presiding officer Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero that were opting not to conduct redirect on the NBI chief, thus ending his time on the witness stand.
Earlier, Ridon disputed the defense’s characterization of parts of Matibag’s testimony as hearsay or “chismis". This was Vinluan's term in open court.
“Paano naman naging chismis iyong pagbabanta? Paano naging chismis iyong continuing threat of the Vice President and her family against the President and his family?” the party-list solon asked.
Matibag testified that the NBI had formed a special task force and was examining persons of interest pertaining to the alleged assassin tapped by the respondent through open-source and human intelligence.
The bureau has neither disclosed their identities nor conclusively identified the person Duterte allegedly contacted.
Ridon said the absence of a final identification did not make the investigation mere rumor. “Hindi ho chismis iyon. Actual na investigation po ito (That wasn't a rumor. This was an actual investigation)."
Also during cross-examination, the defense established that Matibag was not yet NBI director when the initial investigation on the death threats was conducted in 2024.
Matibag, who was appointed by Malacañang to his current post in February 2026, said his knowledge of the case came from official records and discussions with the investigating officers.

Related Tags

Mark Vinluan Impeachment Sara Duterte NBI Terry Ridon death threat 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; } }

{{ 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.