Duterte suspends NBI anti-illegal drug operations

President Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP)

President Rodrigo Duterte barred the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from conducting anti-illegal drug operations, saying that he had lost his trust in the bureau.

“The bureau is suspended from imposing drug laws. Sali kayo. Nawalan na ako ng tiwala sa inyo,” Duterte said in a speech at the 38th National Convention of Philippine Association of Water Districts in Davao City on Thursday.

For now, he said, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) would lead government efforts to combat illegal drugs.

“We cannot make use of the police because they are corrupt,” Duterte said. “I cannot trust now the NBI because they are corrupt.”

The President earlier barred the police from conducting antidrug operations following the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-Jooo inside Camp Crame.

Duterte said that when he asked NBI Director Dante Gierran whom he could recommend to head the agencv, he presented himself.

The President said the only thing he asked Gierran was if he was willing to kill rogue agents, to which the latter said yes.

“How many agents he had killed?” Duterte asked.

Earlier, Gierran  denied that anybody from the NBI was involved in the Jee kidnap-slay.

“I am 101 percent sure that there was none,” he told Metro Manila reporters on Monday, a day after Duterte threatened to relieve him.

Gierran also said he was not resigning.

“I did not commit any rowdy act or foolishness so I do not have to resign,” he said. /ATM/rga