Reshuffling at NBI set

SOME changes are bound to happen at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“I’m not just looking for the new director for the NBI but also new deputy directors to replace some of the deputy directors,” De Lima told reporters when he came to Cebu last Saturday for the graduation rites of students at the Indiana Aerospace University (IAU) in Lapu-Lapu City.

She said there will be a revamp in the NBI, which is under the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“I already talked with the President about the changes in the NBI. Even deputy directors will be replaced if there is such a need,” de Lima said.

She said she is still finalizing the list for the possible permanent replacement of former NBI director Magtanggol Gatdula who was sacked for being implicated in a kidnap-extortion case of a Japanese national.

De Lima said former NBI-7 director Medardo de Lemos is not among the choices for the agency’s directorship.

“He (De Lemos) has not applied so he’s not in the list,” she said.

De Lemos served as NBI assistant director when he was transferred from the NBI-Central Visayas Office in 2010.

When asked if the NBI-7 will be affected by the revamp, de Lima said “Our target is just the director and the deputy directors but subject to evaluation of the performance of the regional directors.”

Last January, de Lima designated as officer in charge of the NBI Nonnatus Caesar Rojas, who is the chief prosecutor of the Ilocos region.

NBI-7 Assistant Director Lauro Reyes, in an earlier interview, said they are ready for whatever changes that will happen in the agency.

Reyes said the incident involving Gatdula won’t stop them from performing their duties and obligations.

He said they have to continue working.

Based on a report dated Jan. 6, 2012, the fact-finding panel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) found Gatdula and some other NBI officials liable for kidnapping and extorting money from a Japanese woman Noriyo Ohara./REPORTER ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL