NBI chief Rojas resigns over PNoy's comment

MANILA, Philippines - National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nonnatus Rojas resigned amid President Benigno Aquino III's statement that several of the agency's  officials and agents could not be trusted.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Monday that Rojas filed his letter of resignation due to Aquino's seeming lack of confidence of his staff at the bureau.

Aquino had said that he suspects some NBI officials to have tipped off alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles on the arrest warrant, prompting her to go into hiding.

De Lima, however, said Rojas was not the one Aquino alluded to.

"Hindi (si Rojas) ang pinapatamaan ni PNoy ... Mas maganda sana na ang mga deputy directors ang mag-tender ng resignation, hindi dapat si Director Nonnie," De Lima told reporters.

"He thinks it is the most honorable thing to do under the circumstances. That banner story yesterday may have cast a cloud of doubt over NBI as an institution. I explained to him na hindi 'yon ang ibig sabihin ng pangulo, he is not casting doubt on the institution, ilan-ilan lang," she said, citing Aquino's interview.

Commending Rojas for his initiative, she said that she has not lost her trust with the former Ilocos regional prosecutor whom he placed at the helm of the bureau.

"It goes to show na siya ay very principled, na meron siyang delicadeza. I told him he has my very trust and confidence and I told him that the president also has trust and confidence in him," she said.

While Rojas has said that his resignation is "irrevocable," it is still up to the President to accept the resignation, De Lima added.

"The president was just stating a fact and I concur, but i don't think there is a part on the president that he is generalizing na lahat ng mga tao sa NBI," the Justice official said.

On Monday, Rojas announced that Aquino ordered an investigation on two unnamed NBI officials suspected to have warned Napoles and her brother Reynald "Jojo" Lim on the impending issuance of wararnt of arrest for the two's alleged detention of a scam whistleblower.

"Ang sabi ng ating mahal na pangulo ay inihahanda na yata o gumagawa ng imbestigasyon tungkol dito," Rojas said on Monday.

Related story: NBI probes execs for allegedly tipping off Napoles

De Lima also believed that Napoles, whom she called "well-connected," fled after government insiders warned her.

"Somebody tipped her off," she said last August 15 as the NBI launched a nationwide, round-the-clock manhunt for the siblings.

Napoles surrendered last August 28 to Aquino.