NBI agents prohibited from raiding nightspots

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officer-in-charge Nestor Mantaring has issued an order prohibiting personnel from raiding nightspots if there are no actual complainants.

Mantaring issued the directive, which covers saunas, nightclubs and KTV bars, to prevent the agents from being accused of engaging in extortion rackets.

"To remove or erase the perception of ‘Operation Pakilala,’ we should limit raids to those which have official complaints," he said.

"Operation Pakilala" refers to the indiscriminate raids conducted by law enforcement agencies aimed at bullying operators of illegal establishments and eventually extorting protection money from them. In return, lawmen promise not to conduct raids against their businesses.

When taking on a case, Mantaring said, it is ideal to have a complaint coming from the victim or the victim’s parents or guardians.

"If there is information, we would have to verify it first. Operators feel that they are only being harassed if there is no complaint, or based on an informant’s tip or intelligence report," he said

He said they are distancing themselves from nightspots because many of the laws violated by these establishments are city or municipal ordinances and should be handled by the local police and not by the NBI.

Mantaring clarified that they are not turning their back on this kind of operation, and have only become selective in their choice of cases.

"We would focus on human trafficking or those with minors involved," he said.

In another development, NBI Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service (DDROS) Victor Bessat said they have also centralized the issuance of the mission orders (MO) and permits to carry (PTC) to avoid incidents of illegal arrests and extortion allegedly committed by con men posing as bureau agents.

Under Memorandum Order 14, only Mantaring can sign and issue MOs and PTCs and that all previous MOs and PTCs signed by other bureau officials are deemed revoked or cancelled.

The PTCs are also only issued for organic NBI personnel.

There have been reports of con artists, who introduce themselves as bureau agents to civilians to extort money from them.

Assistant Regional Director Vicente de Guzman, chief of staff of Mantaring, said the public should also be wary of people wearing bull caps, T-shirts, and jackets with "NBI" markings.

"If it is a legitimate operation, the agents should present their identification card indicating their position in the bureau," Bessat said.

In case of doubt, the DDROS chief advised the public to call the NBI headquarters through its trunkline 5238231.