A PHILOSOPHY alumnus and former Cabinet official has been appointed as the new director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Melvin Matibag, a lawyer who served as Cabinet Secretary of former President Rodrigo Duterte, took his oath before Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Friday, Feb. 20.
He succeeded veteran NBI officer and fellow Artlets Philosophy alumnus Angelito Magno, who served as acting chief of the bureau for four months following the resignation of Jaime Santiago.
In a recent interview, Matibag gave assurance that there would be no “sacred cows” in the NBI’s investigations into alleged anomalies.
“We will not tolerate anyone. Everyone who should be held accountable should be held accountable,” he told reporters on Monday, Feb. 24.
Matibag earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters. He obtained his Juris Doctor from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in 1996 and passed the bar examination the following year. Matibag later studied at Wayne State University for a master’s degree in Corporate and Finance Law.
The newly appointed NBI chief was the general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority and president and chief executive officer of the National Transmission Corporation during the time of Duterte.
He was appointed acting Cabinet secretary in 2022 while serving as secretary general of the Duterte-led political party PDP-Laban.
In 2023, Matibag left the party and focused on working as a private law practitioner and academician. He became the first dean of the then-newly formed Lyceum of Alabang College of Law in August last year. F
