Axed NBI exec: Officials close to De Lima met with Napoles

MANILA, Philippines — Relieved National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Reynaldo Esmeralda on Friday denied tipping businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles on her arrest warrant before she went into hiding.

Esmeralda, who was sacked along with NBI deputy director Ruel Lasala, claimed that two other NBI officials leaked the information on the arrest warrant to Napoles.

The NBI launched a two-week manhunt after Napoles disappeared, following the issuance of the arrest warrant against her. The manhunt was wrapped up after Napoles' surrender to Malacanang.

Esmeralda confirmed that the one of the two senior officials is still in service, while another already left the post, the Philippine Star's Aie Balagtas See reported on Twitter.

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Esmeralda said that the officials are allies of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who is leading the investigation on the multi-billion pesos pork barrel fund scam.

Esmeralda cried foul saying that the official retained his post, while the two of them were axed.

"I challenge Napoles to name kung sino ang nakipagkita at nakausap nya sa NBI. Pero siguradong hindi ako o si Lasala," Esmeralda said in a televised press conference on Friday.

The two NBI officials allegedly close to De Lima met with Napoles after principal whistleblower Benhur Luy lodged the serious illegal detention case against the businesswoman before the Department of Justice.

Esmeralda said that the case was afterwards dismissed through a DOJ resolution in July 2013 before it was resurrected through an NBI motion for reconsideration filed in July 2013.

Esmeralda said that the DOJ ruling junking Luy's charges could have been prompted by the unnamed officials' secret meeting with Napoles.

Security footage from the NBI can prove his allegations, Esmeralda said, adding that he will reveal the officials' identities soon.

De Lima, meanwhile, said she relieved Esmeralda and Lasala from their posts due to "integrity issues."

"The reforms will not be successful if we don't clean up the directorial staff," De Lima was quoted as saying in a television report.

Esmeralda said that the DOJ's move, which President Benigno Aquino III approved, was unwarranted. He explained said they are not political appointees and they rose from the ranks as career officials.

The DOJ handed them the notice relieving them from their posts only on Friday morning, a day after it was leaked to the media.

Luy said that Napoles kidnapped him and kept him in a Taguig City condominium for three months before he was supposedly rescued by the NBI in March 2013, upon De Lima's orders. - Camille Diola with reports from Aie Balagtas See