February mutiny tops NBI’s cases in 2006

The year 2006 at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would probably be most remembered by the month-long "visits" of military officials, who have been called one-by-one to shed light in the failed Feb. 24 mutiny.

In July, members of the media camped outside of the NBI-Special Task Force (STF), the unit in charge of the investigation, almost everyday waiting for the invited military guests to appear.

After four months of extensive investigation, they filed rebellion charges against 48 people including former Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan.

Also charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) were former Ambassador Roy Señeres, and Council of Philippine Affairs secretary general Pastor "Boy" Saycon, businessmen Don Pepe Araneta and Jaime Regalario.

They also charged Major General Renato Miranda of the Philippine Navy, Army Brigadier General Danilo Lim, Marine Colonels Ariel Querubin and Orlando de Leon, and Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco from the PNP.

But NBI Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service Reynaldo Esmeralda, who headed the STF at the height of the failed coup investigation, had said their job is not yet over and that they are conducting the second phase of their investigation to determine if there are still other key players in the attempt to topple the government.

It was a surprise that a mere "wrap up" story in an international magazine could gain the interest of several media groups and become one of the big news of the year.

On Feb. 26, Time Magazine came out with an article headlined "Emergency Rules," which included details reported by Nelly Sindayen.

Her firsthand account of the alleged conversation that took place at the house of former Tarlac Rep. Jose "Peping" Cojuangco in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City captured the public’s attention.

On Feb. 23 they reportedly hatched a plan to withdraw support from President Arroyo. Saycon called someone, believed to be Lim, who reportedly said over the speaker phone that "all systems go."

It reportedly signified that a military contingent would march to a shrine in Manila where the 20th anniversary of the People Power revolution would be celebrated.

But one of the biggest early shocker stories of the year was the Feb. 4 Ultra "Wowowee" stampede where 70 people were trampled to death and more than a hundred people injured.

Tired, hungry and dirty, thousands of people scaled the fence of the Philippine Sports Arena (formerly Ultra) after security personnel informed them that after days of waiting not all of them would be accommodated and be able to watch the popular ABS-CBN game show Wowowee’s first anniversary.

On the morning of Feb. 4, a estimated 30,000 people waited outside the Ultra gate. But the venue could only accommodate 17,000.

The NBI-National Capital Region Division worked seven days a week for more than a month to interview victims, families of victims, witnesses and get copies of their medical certificates in the investigation.

On March 12, the NBI recommended the filing of criminal charges against the show’s host Willie Revillame and top officials of broadcast network giant ABS-CBN. Pasig Mayor Vicente Eusebio, meanwhile, faced administrative charges.

The year 2006 was also when the NBI made several major anti-illegal drug busts.

During the first year of attorney Nestor Mantaring as NBI director, the bureau apprehended on Feb. 15 Indian national Harris Abichandani and confiscated P53 million worth of illegal Ketamine drugs from him. This is regarded as the biggest Ketamine haul in the country.

On Aug. 30, the NBI-Reaction Arrest and Interdiction Division arrested Chinese nationals Ong Tua Ti, Zhi Qu, Zhin Na, and Xian Tian who were reportedly operating a clandestine shabu laboratory in Dingalan town of Aurora province. The authorities confiscated P5 million worth of finished shabu.

The NBI capped its anti-drug operations for the year with the arrest of the elusive Amin Imam Boratong, the suspected operator of a 2,000-square meter shabu tiangge — which housed some 30 to 40 shabu dens — in Pasig City. He, along with his second wife Sheryl Morela, were arrested on Nov. 21 in separate posh condominium units in Makati City.

Boratong is one of the most wanted drug traffickers and has allegedly been involved in the illegal drug trade since 1997.

The bureau is also responsible for revealing to the public the new modus operandi of money counterfeiters.

These syndicates no longer limit their illegal operations to manufacturing fake peso bills, but have expanded their businesses to creating bogus coins.

On Oct. 17, the NBI-Field Operations Division captured Taiwanese Yung Sung Liu who was able to make bogus P5 and P10 coins by using templates.

Apart from the bogus coins that authorities believed are already circulating nationwide, they seized about P5 million worth of counterfeit coins.

The following month, the NBI-NCRD stumbled on a different kind of modus operandi involving P1 coins. This resulted in the arrest of Taiwanese nationals Lin Ming Chin and Hsin Lee, who were allegedly shipping deformed peso coins to China.

It appeared that the syndicate was after the nickel content of the coin that was used to manufacture parts for computer and cellular phones. The team of NBI agents seized almost seven tons of machine-deformed P1 coins.

These discoveries prompted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to consider changing the coin’s metal composition.