‘New NBI chief must have five-year plan’

Malacañang should require all aspirants for the top post of the National Bureau of Investigation to present a five-year plan to improve the performance of the NBI, an official said yesterday.

"I hope this appeal of some of the NBI officers would be heard in Malacanang. We are asking them to form a panel and interrogate every candidate. Huwag naman sana puro palakasan lang (Nobody should be allowed to throw their weight around)," the NBI official, who requested anonymity, told The STAR.

When asked who should conduct the screening, he said they would leave it to the President to choose the members of the panel.

Reports had it that several persons interested in the position of NBI director were banking on endorsements from "padrinos" close to the President to land the job, rather than on their qualifications and vision of how to improve the agency.

The top NBI post opened up after the death of NBI chief Reynaldo Wycoco last month following a stroke.

Retired police generals such as Edgar Aglipay, Reynaldo Berroya, Ernesto de Leon, and even Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong, who is currently the Manila Police District chief, were widely reported to be interested.

Four members of the judiciary are also rumored to be contenders: Supreme Court assistant court administrator Reuben de la Cruz, a former Marikina City regional trial court judge; Manila RTC Judge Oscar Barrientos; Pasig City Judge Leoncio Janolo Jr.; and Quezon City RTC Judge Ralph Lee.

Except for Janolo, all of them were former NBI agents.

"In choosing the replacement of the late NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco, the search committee and (Mrs.) Arroyo should not only consider whether he is an insider or an outsider, but (focus) more on what he intends to do once he is at the bureau," the NBI official said, adding that if the next NBI chief just maintains the status quo, "the bureau would not improve."

Many rank-and-file NBI employees are endorsing NBI officer-in-charge Nestor Mantaring, who rose from within the ranks and has been with the bureau for 35 years.

Mantaring’s supporters said the NBI is the country’s premier investigating body and does not need former generals with "dubious reputations" to lead them.

"The NBI needs the consistency of a Mantaring to continue its mission of protecting this country’s public. We appeal to (Mrs.) Arroyo to reward Mantaring’s record of achievement as assurance to the NBI rank-and-file that those that work hard and do well can rise through the ranks and eventually become NBI director," they said in a statement.

The NBI employees said Mantaring, who was NBI assistant director, had been the late Wycoco’s most trusted officer for the two years prior to his death last December.

"While Wycoco was busy parrying the shots from media and other external factors, (Mantaring) kept the whole NBI machinery grinding forward doing its job. While Wycoco attended to the requirements of Congress, the Senate and Malacañang, Mantaring made sure the NBI continued with its day-to-day functions of investigation and crime solving," they said.

Mantaring began as a clerk at the NBI in 1968. While he worked during the day, he took night classes in law at the Far Eastern University until he was able to obtain his law degree in 1972 and passed the Bar exams in 1973.

After assuming several positions as a line agent and heading some of the NBI’s divisions, he was designated as the deputy director for comptroller services in 2001. The following year, he was transferred to act as deputy director for administrative services. In 2003, he was appointed deputy director for special investigation and promoted to the post of NBI assistant director the next year.

When Wycoco slipped into a coma after suffering a stroke on Nov. 23, Mrs. Arroyo named Mantaring as officer-in-charge of the NBI.