THE National Bureau of Investigation is now extending its reach in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to help rid the country of narcotics syndicates even as NBI Director Dante Gierran is implementing a reorganization in the agency.
“In line with the statement policy of President Rodrigo Duterte, NBI Director Dante Gierran already formed a task force. This is going to be a National Task Force Against Illegal Drugs,” said NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin.
“We are finalizing how the task force will be composed. There will be three to four teams. This will handle all operations of the NBI in so far as the campaign for anti-illegal drugs is concerned,” added Lavin, chief of the International Operations Division.
“We envision the three teams to work on Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao areas. This is just in the drawing board. There are 18 regions, 22 district offices, or total of 40. They will report to the director. The director will be reporting to the Secretary of Justice and to the President,” he said.
“Director Gierran already identified the task force head as Attorney Roel Bolivar. We sat down with Bolivar [Tuesday]. We are just thinking how the agents will be scattered to the three or four teams,” said Lavin.
Lavin said Gierran is trying to implement the plan even as they are implementing a revamp in the agency.
“This comes with the change in leadership. They have moved already 10 heads of offices or dvisions. We will ask the President to support us in our fight against illegal drugs [since there is no additional budget for this campaign]. This is the centerpiece of the administration,” he said.
“The President had told Director Gierran ‘if you need help, just tell me.’ We cannot cite the lack of funds as an excuse not to be serious in the campaign against illegal drugs,” Lavin said, adding that the new task force should be finalized by July or August.
“The timeline is three to six months. While the creation of the Task Force is being finalized, our [Anti-Illegal Drugs Division], the division headed by Attorney Joel Tovera, is still functioning. They will be absorbed by the task force. We will continue with the work. We need all the help we can get,” he said.
Lavin said the NBI will also strengthen their agents in the Task Force through coordination with foreign counterparts with cross boarder investigation.
“When the creation [of the task force] is finalized, we will be sharing our information with other agencies working on anti-illegal drugs. So we will be sharing information with [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency], [Philippine National Police], [Criminal Investigation and Detection Group], the military and other agencies,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lavin said no agent nor non-agent personnel has tested positive in the ongoing drug testing at the agency that started Monday.
“We want a house cleaning. As of yesterday, we tested more than 150 employees. There are about 2,000 employees, both agent and non-agent, total nationwide. This includes those who we targeted. We cannot single them out,” Lavin said.
“Fortunately, no one tested positive so far. [Suspected] NBI agents also tested negative. Less than five (were targeted),” said Lavin.
“We are reviewing the participation of the agents in so far as prosecuting and securing a conviction as far as these cases are concerned. We will look into the investigation of our agents,” he said, noting that there have been allegations of collusion among agents, prosecutors and suspected perpetrators.
