NBI to demolish Manila headquarters

MANILA, Philippines — The old National Bureau of Investigation building on Taft Avenue in Manila will be demolished to give way to a new facility by 2026, NBI director Menardo de Lemos said yesterday.

The NBI headquarters, condemned by the city government in 2019, “has been a witness to the best and not very best of us,” he said during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility.

The NBI has moved its operations to the V-Tech Tower along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City.

The new building, which will cost about P2.5 billion, will include a multi-level parking lot, dormitories for transient agents and employees, a gymnasium, a shooting range and a home for forensic equipment, De Lemos said.

He added that Congress has approved an initial budget of P450 million in 2022 for the building’s construction.

Detainees go to BuCor

The NBI said 97 detainees are set to be transferred to the Bureau of Corrections facility in Muntinlupa.

NBI public information officer Nicanor Suarez told The STAR the transfer follows a go-signal given by the Department of Public Works and Highways for the NBI headquarters’ demolition.

He noted that the NBI detainees will not be housed in the New Bilibid Prison but in a separate facility prepared for them as part of an inter-agency agreement.

It remains unclear whether the suspects in the murder of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo will also be moved, but Suarez said “all detainees will be transferred.”