2 NBI execs deny links to Napoles

MANILA, Philippines - Two deputy directors of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have denied helping businesswoman Janet Napoles evade arrest.

NBI Deputy Directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala met Thursday night with Justice Secretary Leila de Lim and vowed to cooperate in any investigation of the allegations, but told her they would not resign like Director Nonnatus Rojas.

De Lima said yesterday the two officials believed they were the ones alluded to by President Aquino as “bad rats” in the NBI who supposedly aided Napoles in evading arrest on Aug. 14 by tipping off her camp about the warrant issued for her arrest on charges of serious illegal detention.

De Lima will temporarily supervise the NBI as the government searches for an officer-in-charge (OIC) of the bureau, after President Aquino accepted Rojas’ resignation.

“I am now scouting for an OIC. I have a few names in mind,” De Lima said yesterday.

For now, she said the NBI is focused on preparing the plunder complaint against Napoles and several lawmakers involved in the pork barrel scam.

“Once we designate an OIC, a major reshuffle will follow, covering some of the deputy directors,” De Lima told reporters.

The NBI is under the administrative supervision of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

De Lima said changes in the top posts in the bureau would be inevitable, even as most deputy directors refused to heed her call for their courtesy resignation.

Napoles has been tagged as the brains behind an alleged multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.

Napoles said Esmeralda and Lasala denied any wrongdoing.

“They defended themselves and explained why they could not accede to what I asked of them,” De Lima said.

“We cannot compel them to resign, but that cannot deprive us of undertaking a major revamp within the bureau,” she added.

De Lima said the DOJ is still studying whether a probe should be conducted.

“For now the allegations of their involvement in illegal activities are general, so we don’t really know where to begin,” she said. “I think they’re sensitive enough and I know they are also aware of the issues or allegations constantly hurled at them.”

She added that the NBI is currently focused on the filing of cases related to the pork barrel scam.

De Lima had earlier said there were reports linking a deputy director of the NBI to smuggling operations.

Earlier, Deputy Director for Administrative Services Edmundo Arugay filed his courtesy resignation effective on Sept. 14 when he returns from an official mission abroad.

The three other NBI deputy directors are Virgilio Mendez (regional operations services), Rickson Chiong (technical services) and Rafael Ragos (comptroller services).

De Lima has said there are three to four deputy directors of the bureau who have often been accused of involvement in illegal activities.

She, however, admitted there is no clear evidence to substantiate the insinuations.

President Aquino made it clear that the subject of his distrust in the NBI was not Rojas, who filed his irrevocable resignation as bureau director.

Aquino did not want Rojas to leave because of the gravity of the pork barrel scam being investigated, but yesterday the President issued a statement that he was accepting the resignation.

De Lima will supervise the NBI as officer-in-charge to ensure continuity of the agency’s tasks, Aquino said.

There will be no new NBI chief until cases are filed in connection with the pork barrel scam, according to sources.

Sources said the establishment of a secure room for documents and other pieces of evidence was one of the measures being taken to make sure that the truth about the pork barrel controversy would come out.

There have been questions on how an agency like the NBI can go after ranking officials, senators included, should the pieces of evidence lead to them.

There are calls for an independent agency to conduct the probe. The Palace announced that the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council (IAAGCC) would be doing a separate investigation.

The IAAGCC is headed by De Lima, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Commission on Audit Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan.

Not for drama

In a statement, Aquino recognized that Rojas’ period of service had “taken a serious toll on his health” and thus he must be allowed to leave the agency.

Rojas said his decision to leave the bureau was final.

“It was a difficult decision, a big decision, I knew that, that’s why I pondered on it. When I made the decision, I knew that it was final... not for drama or anything else,” Rojas said, as he sat by his empty desk at the NBI that was previously filled with documents.

  –  With Aurea Calica, Aie Balagtas See