On May 4, 2026, National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag stood before cameras at NBI headquarters and confirmed what many had already suspected: the expletive-laden, threatening audio that had gone viral on social media was indeed his voice. The call was real. The threats were real. The words were his.
His explanation: it happened in 2020, it was a private argument with a friend, and his pregnant wife had been upset over something the friend had posted online.
The NBI chief then pivoted — vowing to track down the 400-plus social media accounts that had spread the video, calling them "a mix of bots and fake accounts," and framing the entire episode as a political attack timed to undermine his testimony at the Sara Duterte impeachment hearings.
There is something deeply uncomfortable about this sequence of events — and it deserves to be said plainly.
What the Audio Actually Contains
The contents of the viral call are not ambiguous. In the recording, Matibag can be heard directing a stream of profanities at his friend Mel Sabio, repeatedly invoking his pregnant wife's condition, and — most critically — telling Sabio that "if he were killed, there would be no evidence."
Matibag himself has confirmed these things were said. His friend Sabio confirmed it was real. There is no factual dispute about what was recorded.
Matibag's explanation is that this was a private moment of anger. He says he and Sabio have since reconciled and are now business partners. He says the matter was settled years ago.
But here is the problem: none of that actually matters to the question of fitness for public office.
The Head of the NBI Threatened to Kill Someone
This is not a minor rhetorical slip. This is the man who now leads the Philippines' primary investigative bureau — the same bureau that arrested PGMN founder Franco Mabanta for alleged extortion and threats. The same bureau that Palace Press Officer Claire Castro publicly treats as the go-to instrument against critics of the administration. The same bureau that testified at one of the most consequential impeachment proceedings in recent Philippine history.
And its director, in a recorded call, threatened to kill a friend.
Matibag was appointed by President Marcos in February 2026. During his swearing-in, the administration praised him as someone who "could be trusted" and who would "not fear or favor" anyone. Within months, he was presiding over an NBI that has been extraordinarily politically active — arresting Mabanta, investigating social media accounts, and being deployed as a central actor in the Marcos administration's war against the Duterte camp.
Now the public knows that this trusted figure, in a moment of anger, threatened a friend's life on a recorded call.
The Political Timing Argument Is Not an Excuse
Matibag and his supporters will argue — and have argued — that the video's resurfacing was a deliberate political operation. They point to the fact that it was reuploaded on May 2, 2026, just before his impeachment testimony, by accounts linked to pro-Duterte networks.
That argument may well be correct. The timing is suspicious. The coordinated spread is suspicious.
But here is what that argument does not address: the substance of the call is not in dispute. Matibag threatening to kill Sabio is not a manufactured claim — it is an admitted fact. Calling out the people who spread the video does not erase what was said on it.
The political motivation of those who surfaced the recording does not make the recording untrue. Filipinos are capable of holding two thoughts at once: yes, the video may have been weaponized politically; and yes, the NBI director threatened to kill someone.
A Double Standard in Plain Sight
The most glaring irony in this entire episode is what Matibag himself said when announcing the Mabanta arrest:
"Freedom of expression is protected by law, but it must never be used as a shield for extortion, intimidation, or criminal exploitation. The NBI will relentlessly pursue those who weaponize digital platforms to threaten, harass, and unlawfully profit from others."
Matibag was speaking about Mabanta. But his own audio contains what any reasonable person would call intimidation and threats — directed at a private individual on a phone call.
The NBI has now filed a Data Privacy Act complaint against the people who spread that audio. In other words: the bureau is using its power to go after those who exposed its director's threatening behavior. The person who made the threats is using his institutional authority to pursue those who revealed the threats.
This is not accountability. This is cover.
What Accountability Actually Looks Like
Matibag has every right to defend himself. He has every right to pursue those who violated his privacy by spreading a private recording without consent. Data privacy laws exist for a reason.
But fitness for public office is a separate question entirely. The Filipino people are entitled to ask: should the head of the country's top investigative bureau be someone who, even in private, demonstrates a willingness to threaten violence against another person?
That question has no easy answer. People make mistakes. Relationships get heated. Pregnancies are stressful. These are human realities.
But public trust in institutions depends on the people leading them being held to a higher standard — not a lower one. The NBI's credibility to investigate threats, extortion, and criminal behavior depends in part on its director embodying a credible commitment to lawful conduct.
When the NBI director confirms he threatened to kill someone, "we already reconciled" is not a sufficient public answer.
The public deserves more than that. And frankly, so does the NBI.
This is an opinion and analysis piece. Pulpulitiko believes in accountability for all public officials regardless of their political alignment.
