Matibag: Cayetano siblings set to return to PH this weekend

MANILA, Philippines — National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag said he has received information that Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano, who left the country last Wednesday, will return home this weekend.

The Cayetano siblings were reportedly spotted boarding a flight bound for Singapore and arriving at Changi Airport on Wednesday evening.

In an ambush interview on Friday, Matibag said the two senators may fly back home on Saturday or Sunday evening. 

“I have information that they will be coming back maybe tomorrow at 11 p.m., or Sunday at 11 p.m., SQ-918 [flight],” Matibag told reporters after appearing at the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs’ hearing regarding the domestic steel industry.

The NBI director noted that he sees nothing wrong with the senators’ foreign trip and vacation abroad.

But he also mentioned the “timing” of their flights, which occurred amid the NBI’s investigation into the supposed irregularities in the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc)’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

“Kung nagbakasyon lang talaga, wala namang problema. But of course, the timing, hindi natin maalis sa taumbayan yung medyo magkaroon ng mga komento,” he said.

(If it’s just a vacation, there’s no problem. But of course, the timing, we can’t eliminate the possibility of people having some comments.)

Sen. Alan Cayetano has been implicated in the SEA Games probe since he recently introduced himself as the chairperson of Phisgoc.

On Monday, Matibag said Cayetano may be included as a respondent in the charges the NBI will recommend to the Department of Justice as the bureau finalizes its SEA Games investigation.

“He [Cayetano] introduced himself as the chairman. So it’s an ultra vires act. Pinakilala niyang chairman siya na parang nagpapatakbo. So posible na kasama siya,” Matibag earlier said.

(He [Cayetano] introduced himself as the chairman. So it’s an ultra vires act. He introduced himself as the chairman as if he were running (Phisgoc). So it is possible that he may be included.)

Matibag also reiterated the possibility of a “double entry” of payment to the “cauldron” at New Clark City in Tarlac, which was used in the 2019 SEA Games.

Matibag earlier said that based on their initial findings, Phisgoc received around P6.7 billion in government funds, specifically from the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee, and the Department of Budget and Management for the 2019 SEA Games.

He noted that if they add the other funds Phisgoc accepted from the private sector, the committee’s budget could reach over P10 billion./coa