NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago yesterday said he has “disbanded” the agency’s Special Task Force (STF) following an alleged questionable raid of a suspected scam hub that led to the arrest of nine Chinese nationals at a resort in Malolos, Bulacan last month.
Santiago ordered the transfer of the unit’s chief and 13 operatives to the bureau’s regional and division offices while the NBI’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD) probe the task force and the operation.
“Rest assured that the bureau takes this matter with utmost seriousness and we are committed to take all the appropriate actions,” Santiago said in an interview with dzBB radio.
“Actually hindi po nabuwag ‘yung Special Task Force kundi inempty ko muna ‘yun at habang nag-iisip ako kung sino karapat dapat mailagay d’yan na susunod sa aking guidance. In the meantime wala muna akong STF (Actually, the Special Task Force was not abolished, but I emptied it while I look for new operatives who will follow my guidance. In the meantime, I will have no STF),” he also said.
Santiago made the move after he got a complaint from the Chinese Embassy in Manila and the lawyer of the Chinese nationals who were arrested during the operation.
He said the STF operation targeted a resort that was allegedly being used by the arrested Chinese in love scams and illegal offshore gaming operations.
However, he said the address provided by the agents to the court when they applied for a search warrant was incorrect, noting that the address in the request was in Sta. Rita, Malolos in Bulacan.
He said Sta. Rita is in Pampanga.
“I do not like how they conducted the raid. The Chinese Embassy and the private counsel of those arrested complained. So, to prevent them from tampering with whatever evidence, I said I’ll disband the unit in the meantime while the Internal Affairs Division conduct an investigation, and then let’s see,” the NBI chief said in Filipino.
“It seemed that from the very start, they were already planning on doing something when they made false claims in their application for a search warrant. They knew this would later on lead to the case being quashed,” he added.
He said that as a former regional trial court judge, he knew the rules on the application for search warrant.
“Search warrants should describe the particular place to be searched and the things to be seized. The investigation is still ongoing, but for me, this is my personal opinion as a former operative and a former judge, why would you give a false address in your application?” Santiago said.
He also noted that the operatives could not have been mistaken about the address since they conducted surveillance operations for three days on the target place prior to the actual operation.
Santiago said it seemed that the operatives deliberately misled the court so it would issue a search warrant based on the wrong address provided.
He also said the Chinese nationals’ lawyer also alleged that the operatives took personal belongings of the foreigners.
Santiago said he has ordered that the laptops used by the operatives be subjected to forensic examination for evidence.
“Their information that the Chinese were involved in scam hubs could be true, but I do not like how they conducted the operation,” he added.
