Says agency demoralized over Noy’s claim of “untrustworthy’ agents A shakeup at the National Bureau of Investigation appears to have started with the resignation of NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas, who has resigned irrevocably over comments made by President Aquino that there are NBI agents who cannot be trusted, owing to a leak made by at least two NBI agents whom Aquino claimed had tipped off alleged brains of the pork barrel scam, Janet Lim-Napoles on her warrant of arrest. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Rojas filed a letter of resignation to the Chief Executive through her with Rojas tendering “his irrevocable resignation as Director of the NBI effective upon the approval or the acceptance of the President.” Rojas announced his resignation briefly at noon yesterday in his office where he did not entertain questions from reporterps and left after the press conference. It was gathered that even other NBI officials were surprised over Rojas’ decision and that it was only during the press briefing that they had heard of his resignation. Rojas was the second appointee of Aquino when he replaced Magtanggol Gatdula and took his oath as the 20th director of the NBI on July 25, 2012. A lawyer by profession, he was previously NBI officer-in-charge and chairman of the Regional Prosecutors Council. But apparently, both Malacañang and the Justice chief as well as Rojas, take an irrevocable resignation as a “revocable” resignation. “He (Rojas) feels, he thinks, he believes, that is the most honorable thing to do because of the cloud of doubt being cast or that may have been cast on the NBI as an institution and on him as the leader of the institution. “ the Justice chief said. De Lima said she is proud of and satisfied with, the performance and accomplishments of the NBI under Rojas’ leadership, but admitted that just like any other agency, the bureau has its share of “misfits.” At the same time, she said that it shouldn’t be Rojas who should resign, but his deputies who should instead offer their resignations. Alhough De Lima failed to explain or shed light on the identies of the depities she wants to for them to resign instead of Roxas, it was taken to mean that the so-called NBI agents who leaked the news of the arrest warrant to Napoles which enabled her to take flight, were deputies of Rojas. The Justice chief also believes that Aquino was “misquoted” in a newspaper on the possible filing of charges against two ranking NBI officials suspected of having ties with senators linked to the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam, and who may have tipped off Napoles on the impending issuance of her arrest warrant for serious illegal detention. She also said that Aquino may have meant not the NBI deputies but the senators, in the matter of filing charges against them. De Lima said she will recommend that Rojas’ resignation be denied by Aquino as she does not want to lose a good man like the NBI director.Rojas, who had served as a Regional State Prosecutor prior to his designation as NBI OIC in 2012. “I’m recommending whole-hearteldy (to the President) not to accept. Firmly and wholeheartedly. He just feels that as the leader of the institution, that’s the honorable thing to do,” De Lima said. “It goes to show that he is very principled. “I already explained to him (Rojas) that the President didn’t mean him (when he made the comment on some agents in the NBI are untrustworthy) and definitely you (Rojas) have my trust and confidence and I think that the President has trust and confidence in him.” Aquino, who had earlier expressed distrust and disgust on the two NBI officials on the issue of P10 billion pork barrel scam, has yet to accept the irrevocable resignation of Rojas. At the first level of the investigation on the P10 billion pork barrel scam investigation which is the biggest case handled by the NBI, Rojas played a vital role in the case build up to establish the paper trail on alleged abuses of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) that point to the doors of perceived non-allies of Aquino and the Liberal Party (LP) such as Senators Ramon Revilla, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan and other lawmakers in the House of Representatives. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they have not yet received the copy of the irrevocable resignation of Rojas which De Lima immediately tried to preempt when she was quoted as saying she would tell Aquino not to accept his resignation. “We have not received any information with respect to that. But Secretary Leila de Lima mentioned that she is going to recommend a rejection of the resignation, primarily because she trusts Director Nonie Rojas, and she is part of the team that does the case build-up, so that’s the reason Secretary Leila de Lima is recommending a rejection of the resignation letter,” Lacierda said. Lacierda added that the Aquino administration still reposes his trust and confidence on Rojas because other controversial cases had been given to the NBI. “Yes. If you recall, a number of investigations, a number of reports have been initiated under his watch. You’ve got the Atimonan (incident); you’ve got the Balintang Channel report, some other reports. And also, there are a number of sensitive cases that are being handled by Director Nonie Rojas, coming from Secretary Leila de Lima,” Lacierda said. Lacierda said the incident of “voluntary surrender” of Janet Lim Napoles to Aquino and his men, except De Lima in Malacañang, then brought to Camp Crame in Quezon City with no less than Aquino who made the first inspection of the “custodial cell” to insure her security, should not be an issue for Rojas to resign. “No. It’s not that. The problem is not the institution but some of its officials, in their words, less trustworthy. “But Director Nonie Rojas has done a good job that’s why Secretary Leila de Lima would want to recommend to the President to reject his resignation,” Lacierda said. Lacierda said the investigation of the pork barrel would continue even with the resignation of Rojas which has to be decided by Aquino. “There is no action yet on the resignation, let’s be clear. So, Director Nonie Rojas and his team (go on) on the case build-up So the work goes on. There is no word yet as to the resignation letter. “What we have heard so far is the recommendation of Secretary De Lima on the recommendation of rejecting the resignation of Director Nonie Rojas,” Lacierda said. Lacierda refused to comment if the Rojas resignation could result in a backlash on the NBI agents once Aquino accepts the resignation. “I will defer comment on that because there has been no action yet. So I don’t want to speculate or get ahead of the President,” Lacierda said. Meanwhile,the Prosecutors League of the Philippines wants Malacañang to keep Rojas at the NBI. PLP President Jaime Umpa said that Rojas would be a great loss to the investigating arm of the government. “We appeal to our president not to accept Noni’s (Rojas) resignation albeit irrevocable. It would be a great loss not only to the premier investigating bureau but also to the ongoing investigation and prosecution against responsible officials in the pork barrel scam,” Umpa said. Umpa said that the state needs people like Rojas who is a dedicated official even during his stint as a prosecutor of the DoJ. “We need people in government like Noni who is intelligent, sincere, honest with an unsullied integrity and one who knows the true meaning of delicadeza,” Umpa added.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:40:07 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015