Defecting NBI agents admit ‘whitewash’ in Erap mansions’ probe

Now it can be told.

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) admitted yesterday that they had been pressured to "sanitize" the probe into the Estrada mansions and to carry out a demolition job in the plunder case against jueteng whistleblower Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.

Reacting to the defection of the military hierarchy to the anti-Estrada forces rallying at the EDSA Shrine yesterday, NBI agents walked out of their offices and unfurled an "Erap Resign" streamer, which they paraded around the bureau compound. The streamer had previously been kept hidden in one of the offices.

"We will no longer take orders from the Chief Executive," said lawyer Ruel Lasala, president of the 500-strong NBI agents’ association. "It’s time for Mr. Estrada to go. We will await orders from our new President."

Following the military defection, the President asked Congress to call for snap elections where he would not stand as a candidate.

The agents’ actions were made without the knowledge of acting NBI Director Carlos Cabay, who refused to comment on the leadership situation.

Lasala said the agents will no longer defend Mr. Estrada.

The NBI had cleared the President in the probe of the mansions, which he allegedly gave to several mistresses. The bureau, which also investigated the Ilocos tobacco tax scam, was severely criticized for its findings as critics of the administration insisted a whitewash took place.

"We were in a tight fix that time. If we had opened our mouths, we would have been transferred to offices in far-flung provinces. So we chose to keep quiet," Lasala said.

One agent said the mansion probe was designed to give the President a basis for his claims that the luxurious homes were not his. – Jose Aravilla