NBI asks for budget increase

https://www.nbi.gov.ph/ photo

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) asked for a budget increase to improve its capabilities, particularly in going after fugitives, during the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) P38.9 billion 2014 proposed budget hearing in the Senate Thursday.

The NBI receives P18 million in intelligence funds a year but NBI Assistant Director Medardo De Lemos said the agency was proposing P78 million allocation so that the funds will reach the provinces.

“The intelligence funds will greatly help our operations [such as in] manhunt operations for large cases we will need to deploy almost all agents for a 24/7 manhunt which will incur large expenses especially if it’s nationwide,” De Lemos told reporters in an ambush interview after the hearing.

When asked if the lack of budget was the reason why the agency was unable to apprehend business woman Janet Lim-Napoles, De Lemos said “that is one of the reasons but we cannot use that as an excuse.”

“Napoles had almost unlimited resources which we cannot match, the agency has limited resources,” he said.

Napoles is the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam which siphoned off some P10 billion in lawmakers’ PDAF using bogus NGOs.

Napoles was a subject of manhunt operations for a couple of weeks until she eventually surrendered to President Benigno Aquino III.

The DOJ’s P38.9 billion budget was approved with only few other questions by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on the witness protection program’s budget.

An increase in the budget of the witness protection program under the DOJ was urged by Trillanes who said that it would further encourage whistleblowers and witnesses to come out and give their testimony.

The program currently has P192 million allocation covering allowances for food, transportation, and the safe houses of witnesses.

Senator Loren Legarda also asked about the backlog of prosecutors in the department and the possibility of establishing environment courts to focus on environment cases saying that environment laws were not being fully enforced.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima was unable to attend the hearing saying in a letter that she has an urgent meeting in Malacañang.