MATIBAG: HILING NA MAG-INHIBIT SA IMBESTIGASYON KAY GRACIOSO, WALANG BASEHAN
Advertisers
IT has no basis in law and the investigation continues.
Ganito isinalarawan ni National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Atty. Melvin Matibag ang kahilingan ni Rep. Paolo Duterte na mag-inhibit o ihinto niya ang imbestigasyon kay Rodulfo M. Gracioso, Jr., dating close-in security aide ni ex-House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. Matatandaang nag-isyu ng affidavit si Gracioso kung saan sinasabi niyang nag-deliver umano siya ng mga maleta ng pera kina Vice President Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte at Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, bagay na kanilang ikinaila.
Bilang sagot ay naglabas ng statement ang NBI, na nagsabing ang “inhibition” at “cold neutrality” na sinasabi ng abogado ni Rep. Duterte ay “standards for those who judge. Whether there is probable cause is for the prosecutor or the Ombudsman to decide and should the matter reach that stage, Rep. Duterte will have every opportunity to answer there. The law gives the Bureau the authority to investigate, and no law requires it to set that authority aside.”
“A polygraph result is an examiner’s reading of whether a person shows signs of deception. It speaks to the witness, not to the facts. It is not proof, courts do not treat it as such, and it is not a finding on anyone’s guilt. The Bureau has made no such finding. Every allegation is being tested against documents, records and testimony,” dagdag pa nito.
Ayon sa NBI, “Rep. Duterte has been denied nothing the law gives him at this stage, as he has had the affidavit since October 5 and the Bureau’s invitation to give his side stands. The formal right to answer the evidence belongs to the preliminary investigation, should one be conducted.”
“The columns counsel cites were written in 2024 before I assumed as NBI Director and are matters of public concern, and I disclosed them openly under oath. They bear on no fact in Mr. Gracioso’s affidavit, and no finding of the Bureau will rest on anything but evidence,” dagdag pa ni Matibag.
Aniya, ang pagkumpara sa Davao City prosecutor ay wala ding basehan:”That prosecutor was to rule on a complaint and he is a first cousin of the former President’s partner. That is a specific family relationship of the kind the rules recognize. Applying the same principle means applying it to the same role. The NBI will follow the evidence and submit its findings to the proper authority.”
“The NBI does not judge. It establishes facts,” pagbibigay-diin pa ni Matibag. (JERRY S. TAN)