JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on Friday ordered the indefinite suspension of the authority of the National Bureau of Investigation to handle cases involving illegal drugs.
He gave the order to comply with President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement that the NBI, like the Philippine National Police, should also suspend its anti-drug operations.
“The DoJ and the NBI will now focus their energy and resources on waging war against corruption and criminality,” Aguirre said.
He ordered the PNP and the NBI to stop their operations against illegal drugs following the involvement of some of their members in the abduction and killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.
Superintendent Rafael Dumlao, Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Santa Ana and SPO4 Roy Villegas have been tagged in Jee’s death. Sta. Ana and Villegas have already been charged in court.
Jerry Omlang, an errand boy at the NBI, admitted his involvement in Jee’s abduction. A certain Darwin Lising has also been tagged in Jee’s abduction.
NBI Director Dante Gierran has already relieved several NBI officers including Lising, the head agent in the NBI’s NCR Division.
