Posts falsely claim Philippine official drew gun on protesters at Senate standoff

"NBI director Matibag, about to draw a gun to shoot at Filipinos. Is this how a public officer should behave? You should be ashamed, NBI Matibag," says a Tagalog-language Facebook post shared on May 12, 2026.

Attached to the post are several images appearing to show National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Melvin Matibag butting heads with another person.

A Facebook video shared on the same day appears to show the same confrontation.

In the clip, people can be heard swearing at the NBI chief.  At the 1:13 mark, a protester suddenly screams: "What? You're going to shoot us? Go ahead!"

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Screenshots of the false Facebook posts captured on May 12, 2026, with red Xs added by AFP

The visuals were also shared elsewhere on Facebook after a standoff outside the Philippine Senate building, which saw a group of around 50 protesters scream "NBI go home!" to officers who had come to arrest Senator Ronald Dela Rosa.

NBI officers were attempting to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant to Dela Rosa, who served as former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's chief drug war enforcer.

Duterte was arrested in Manila in March 2025 and flown to the Netherlands, where he is being held in ICC detention awaiting trial.

Dela Rosa is accused of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and other co-perpetrators, and has been holed up in the legislative building after its leadership stopped government efforts to serve the ICC warrant (archived link). 

Multiple gunshots sent Philippine senators into hiding in their offices late on May 13 as the senator continued to sought refuge in the building.  Police said the next day they detained a person in connection with the gunfire and investigation remains ongoing (archived link). 

But Matibag did not draw a gun on protesters who confronted him on May 12, as the posts claim.

Local news coverage

There have been no official reports of Matibag pulling out a firearm, and AFP journalists who witnessed the encounter said the NBI chief did not draw any weapon.

The standoff was captured by crews from several local news outlets, including ABS-CBN, News5 and the Inquirer (archived here, here, here). 

Their footage shows Matibag as he tried to enter the Senate compound while Dela Rosa's supporters screamed abuse at him.

At one point, Matibag can be seen turning and attempting to walk towards those yelling his name as he said: "Who was that swearing at me? Who was that? Come here, come here. Pick up (that person)." Several people accompanying Matibag tried to stop him from reaching the protesters.

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Screenshots from ABS-CBN's video of Matibag and Dela Rosa's supporters, with his hands highlighted in blue by AFP

The footage shows Matibag holding a mobile phone in one hand and using the other to gesture towards the crowd or push back against the people trying to stop him. There is no evidence he pulled out a firearm.

AFP has previously debunked other false claims linked to the ICC's investigation into Duterte's drug war.