Atty. Paolo Panelo, spokesperson for Vice President Sara Duterte, claimed the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) recent press conferences discussing alleged discrepancies in Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) are an example of political persecution.

Panelo pointed out that NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag had spoken to the media regarding the recommended charges before informing Duterte’s camp regarding their findings and giving her the opportunity to respond.

Afterwards, Matibag handed the report over to the Office of the Ombudsman, which Panelo claimed was done to “avoid the immediate, informed, and thorough debunking” Duterte would have delivered, as she had done concerning a previous issue.

“That is not the work of a fair and impartial investigative body. That is a shameless smear campaign against the Vice President using public funds, headlined by a man with a documented conflict of interest against her,” Panelo wrote in a statement.

Duterte’s spokesperson challenged the bureau’s findings, noting that these have not been tackled in the impeachment trial when it had assessed her reportedly undeclared or misdeclared properties.

“The Vice President maintains that she declared all her assets and liabilities in her SALN correctly and in good faith, and all allegations to the contrary are false. She is confident this will be proven in the impeachment trial, and if necessary, before the Ombudsman once given formal notice,” Panelo said.

According to reports, Matibag disclosed that the NBI referral contains its Fact-Finding Investigation Report on Duterte’s SALN spanning 2024 to 2025, which identified 22 land titles for 14 properties declared in the documents.