MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday said it will proceed with the investigation into Rodulfo Gracioso Jr.’s allegation that he delivered money to the Duterte family upon the instruction of former House Speaker Allan Velasco.
The NBI made this statement after Rep. Paolo Duterte, son of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, demanded that NBI Director Melvin Matibag inhibit from the probe.
“The request has no basis in law, and the investigation continues. Inhibition, and the ‘cold neutrality’ counsel invokes, are standards for those who judge. The NBI does not judge. It establishes facts,” the NBI statement read.
“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,” it added.
The NBI said “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.”
The NBI said Rep. Duterte “has been denied nothing the law gives him at this stage.”
“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,” it added.
Duterte sued Gracioso, as well as NBI officials and newsmen, for libel over news reports of Gracioso’s claims that he allegedly delivered over PHP3 billion in cash to the Duterte family between 2018 and 2021 upon Velasco’s order. (Benjamin Pulta/PNA)
