A complaint filed by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano before the Ombudsman seeking the suspension of National Bureau of Investigation Director Atty. Melvin Matibag has drawn sharp pushback from the NBI chief himself, who argued the logic behind the move would more logically implicate Cayetano first.
Matibag pointed to Cayetano’s own role in the chain of command over the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, who was handed a six-month suspension in connection with the escape of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa from Senate custody in the early hours of May 14.
“I’m the head of the NBI kaya dapat [daw] suspendehin ako. [Kung] ganoon po ‘yung magiging basehan, ang unang suspendihin dapat si Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano dahil command responsibility niya si [Senate] Sergeant-at-Arms,” Matibag said on Monday.
The NBI director maintained that his agency had honored an agreement with Cayetano not to take dela Rosa into custody while the senator was under the Senate’s protective watch. He said the NBI held its end of the arrangement.
“I kept my promise na ‘di kami papasok. But they did not keep their promise that they will take care of Sen. Bato dela Rosa,” Matibag said.
Dela Rosa had been placed under Senate protective custody but slipped away before dawn on May 14. The circumstances of his departure remain a point of contention between the NBI and Senate leadership.
Matibag’s invocation of command responsibility against Cayetano reframes the disciplinary question back at the Senate, challenging whether the Ombudsman complaint against him can be sustained given that the Senate’s own oversight over its Sergeant-at-Arms chain similarly broke down.
