‘NBI man’ linked to Jee Ick-joo case is an errand boy

Jee Ick-joo

No officials or agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are involved in the abduction and killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo.

NBI Director Dante Gierran issued this statement a day after President Rodrigo Duterte gave him 48 hours to produce the NBI assets said to be involved in Jee’s case.

“This is a different NBI,” Gierran said at a press conference.

Jee was abducted last Oct. 18, 2016 and killed inside the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame the same day.

The police earlier said that there are also people from the NBI who were involved in Jee’s abduction–a certain “Jerry” who is a driver of a certain “Lising.”

The earlier reported driver Jerry is Jerry Omlang. He sought the NBI’s protective custody over the weekend.

Gierran clarified that he is not an employee or an asset of the NBI.

At the press conference, Atty. Danilo Lising, a supervising agent of the NBI-NCR, denied information that Jerry was his driver.

“I am a mere government employee. I cannot afford a driver,” Lising said.

Lising said he met Omlang when he was assigned at the NBI’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division.

He said Omlang was a “striker” or an errand boy for NBI agents.

When asked if he will resign, Gierran said: “Bakit ako magre-resign, wala naman akong ginawang katarantaduhan (Why should I resign, I did nothing wrong).”

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II urged the public to come forward if they know any information if the NBI was involved in Jee’s abduction and killing.