NBI gags execs on extortion case

MANILA, Philippines -  The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) imposed yesterday a news blackout on the case in which two of its officials were accused of trying to extort P100 million from a Japanese woman they arrested for allegedly being an illegal alien.

The controversy surrounding the case prompted NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula to go on a 30-day leave while the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigates the allegations of Noriyo Ohara against NBI-Security Management Division (SMD) chief Mario Garcia and his executive officer, Jose Odellon Cabilan. Gatdula relieved the two officials from their posts and put them on “floating status” before the DOJ started the probe.

The NBI’s designated spokesman, Special Investigator IV Cecilio Zamora Jr., avoided giving specific details on the case and on the status of the bureau’s leadership. No other officials would give a clear statement on the two issues.

He told The STAR in a text message that Ohara, who was arrested by the NBI-SMD on Oct. 28, has been turned over to the Bureau of Immigration. Both the NBI and the BI are under the DOJ.

“I have no information on the Japanese. I just read it in the newspaper that she is not in the BI and is now reportedly in a safehouse. As to the status of the Japanese, the BI officials are the only one who can answer because the NBI has already turned her over to them,” Zamora said.

A BI official confirmed they have Ohara but they cannot disclose her location due to security reasons.

According to Zamora, they will get instructions from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima until she names an official to take charge of the NBI.

“I am not sure who will be the officer-in-charge. No document has been issued naming (NBI assistant director Medardo de Lemos) as OIC,” Zamora said.

Gatdula wrote De Lima to recommend De Lemos, his second in command, to run the NBI while he is on leave.

De Lima could not be reached for comment, and the DOJ said she is out of town. In an earlier text message to The STAR, De Lima said she received Gatdula’s letter on Dec. 16 and approved his 30-day leave, which took effect Monday.

Gatdula, in his memorandum to De Lima, asked her to allow him to go on leave to enable the DOJ to proceed with its investigation unhampered and free from accusations of bias and influence.

“Unpleasant insinuations have been recklessly hurled against the undersigned (Gatdula) which in no way help in preserving the venerable image of the bureau, a very professional law enforcement and investigative institution,” Gatdula said.

Ohara reportedly fled to the Philippines, bypassing immigration officers, to seek refuge from the Japanese crime syndicate Yakuza. She was living with the Marzan family in Bugallon, Pangasinan under an assumed name when she was arrested by the NBI-SMD on Oct. 28.

Garcia and Cabilan allegedly asked the Marzan family for P100 million in exchange for Ohara’s release. The family said they haggled the amount down to P15 million.