NBI

With the Aragoncillo case hugging the limelight, the National Bureau of Investigation (nbi.gov.ph) is once again being hounded by the news media. I do not understand why that is.

First of all, they never had a hand in conducting surveillance on Leandro Aragoncillo, the former U. S. Marine who filched confidential documents from the FBI and the White House.

But if I recall, the NBI also never had a hand in conducting surveillance on Garcillano, whose conversations with the president were surreptitiously recorded. In fact, the NBI's best efforts were to obfuscate the obvious and display the sartorial elegance of NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco. Beyond that, their work was in tatters.

Second of all, they never had a hand in apprehending Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino. It was totally an FBI effort. Yet, here in the Philippines, when Mr. Wycoco mouthed the FBI exploits, one got the distinct feeling that the apprehension was made in close coordination with the NBI considering the two fugitives were Filipinos.

But if I recall, the NBI neither had the desire nor the intelligence to apprehend the most famous local face in recent memory, Mr. Hello Garci. He, whose face has been plastered all over the country, in print and in broadcast media and whose voice has been etched in audio history as the most subservient lapdog of a supposed constitutionally independent body, even that the NBI could not find. And yet, they can find the least known fugitive. Call that sloppy work, misdirected priority, or no intelligence. In all respects with the Garci case, NBI appears to be a bunch of amateurs.

I will not be surprised that Wycoco did not even bother to send out a team to locate Mr. Garcillano. For someone who is conscious of his legacy, Mr. Wycoco is so myopic that he would rather please the present powers than set his sights on becoming the J. Edgar Hoover of this country or the Man who caught Hello Garci.

Third of all, the FBI detection, surveillance and arrest were swift and methodical. It leaves little room for doubt on the professionalism of the people working for the FBI.

And if I may further bemuse myself, the NBI is still in the process of securing an exemption on E. O. 464 to start looking for Garcillano. Meanwhile, that maleficent fellow has been shanghaied to some Latin American country enjoying the sun and the Atlantic Ocean.

It must pain the good men and women of the NBI not to have taken a crack in locating Garci. For long-time professionals of the organization and not mere appointees, hounding and apprehending Garci would have been feathers in their caps. But, alas! They stood down. They are as compromised as compromised is under their present director. The Garci case is probably in the dung heap of the X Files.

Now, their task has a burden added. The former Agriculture Undersecretary, Jocelyn Bolante appears to have followed the footsteps of Garci. He stands accused in the court of public opinion as the man who diverted fertilizer funds during the last presidential elections in favor of pro-GMA politicians. Lest they search for the wrong gender, that fellow Bolante is a man, despite his name. To date, no action has been taken. Like Garci, Bolante is close to the powers and there is,therefore, no pressing need to search for him.

In their website, NBI's motto is nobility, bravery and integrity. But given its glaring ineptness in mishandling Garci, NBI should properly be called National Big-time Incompetents.

That name will stand until GMA's term is over or Garci is caught, whichever comes first.