NBI chief confirms viral audio is his, says he was defending pregnant wife

MANILA, Philippines — National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag has confirmed that he is the voice in a leaked audio clip that has gone viral in recent days, saying the expletive-laden phone call was a private argument with a friend that took place in 2020.

At a press conference Monday, May 4, the NBI chief said the call with his friend Mel Sabio resurfaced only after word got out that he would testify at the impeachment hearings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Matibag did not go into detail about what sparked the argument, saying it was "political." But he said the conversation turned heated because he was defending his wife, who was in her third trimester of a difficult pregnancy at the time.

In the audio clip, Matibag can be heard directing expletives at the person on the other end of the call, who he identified as Sabio. 

A quick scan of the social media accounts sharing the clip shows significant overlap with pages supportive of Duterte and critical of the impeachment proceedings against her. 

The earliest known upload appears to be from the Facebook page SanPedro Insider, dated Dec. 25, 2020. That specific post drew just less than a thousand likes and over 300 shares.

This clip was reuploaded by Facebook page "My Own Opinion" on May 2, 2026. This was combined with a quote card lifted from DZRH, where Matibag was quoted as saying there was a need to avoid illegal activities even as one is turning emotional.

'That was a private conversation'

Before the call with Sabio, Matibag recalled that his wife had called him after reading a post by Sabio and asked him to talk to their friend about it.

"I really just lost it — I called Mel and I said those things," Matibag told reporters in mixed English and Filipino. "But that was a private conversation that was supposed to be between the two of us."

He said the two reconciled within weeks and are now business partners. "Right now, as we speak, he's my partner in a business venture," he said.

Matibag said Sabio visited the NBI on Monday morning to file complaints under the Data Privacy Act and the Anti-Wiretapping Law against whoever recorded and distributed the call. Both men had previously chosen not to take legal action against each other after patching things up, he said.

"I will not deny that it happened, but that was 2020," he said.

The audio surfaced just as the impeachment hearings at the House focused on the NBI's investigation into Duterte's November 2024 threat to have Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed.

Matibag was once a close political ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte. He served as acting Cabinet secretary in the final months of the Duterte administration and was secretary general of the ruling PDP-Laban party. 

He broke with the Duterte camp in 2023 over the vice president's use of confidential and intelligence funds, and was appointed NBI director by Marcos in February 2026.

He is married to Rep. Ann Matibag (Laguna, 1st District).