Legit, De Lima says of NBI Cavite caper

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima: Legit. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents who were arrested on Monday outside the Cavite compound of Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. were in the area because they were monitoring supposed vote-buying on Election Day, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Tuesday.

But while the NBI team was there on a “legitimate operation,” De Lima said some of its members were confidential agents who had long been deactivated.

She said she had withdrawn the appointments of the confidential agents in 2011, which was why she asked NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas to investigate the incident.

Of the six agents, three or four were the former confidential agents who were carrying unlicensed firearms.

The six were arrested along with more than 30 Revilla supporters after police were called. The police filed charges of violation of the gun ban and usurpation of authority against the confidential agents.

“I asked Rojas to look into the incident…and to submit recommendations, the sanctions to be imposed against the organic personnel involved and what legal actions can be taken against them,” De Lima told reporters.

She said the head of the NBI district office in Cavite and the NBI team leader, lawyer Renato Garbo III, told her the team was deployed to the area on the request of Revilla’s camp, which had complained of “rampant vote buying being conducted 200 to 300 meters from their compound.”

She said the NBI team verified with local residents that vote buying was going on in the area.