National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago will remain in his post until a permanent replacement is appointed, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla clarified on Monday.
“In his resignation, he said that the irrevocable resignation was effective upon the appointment of his successor… The thought of an OIC [officer-in-charge] has not crossed my mind now with respect to his request in his resignation (letter),” Remulla told reporters hours after DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano said the department has endorsed two officials to temporarily oversee the NBI.
Earlier in the day, Clavano said the department was recommending Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres and Assistant Secretary Eliseo Cruz to head the NBI in an acting capacity.
“We have endorsed names to the President’s Office in an acting capacity. But in terms of the actual permanent replacement, that is something (Secretary Remulla) is still mulling over. He is still thinking about who could possibly take over,” Clavano said.
“We can’t have a gap or interruption in what we’re doing in the NBI, especially now that we’re fighting against the inshore gaming operators. We need the NBI to be in its top form,” he added.
Remulla said he intends to speak with Santiago again, noting there were no threats against the former judge even if the latter may have felt a “great deal of discomfort.”
Santiago earlier showed newspaper clippings suggesting that a certain “Paul Tangkad” from the NBI special task force unit served as his “authorized bagman” to collect payola from e-sabong and even POGO operators.
Santiago said he has already ordered the NBI Central Luzon Regional Office (CELRO) to investigate the issue.
“The only ‘Paul Tangkad’ that we know here is assigned to the ballistics (unit),” Santiago said.
“I can face all of you, the media, my officers here at the NBI. I can look you in the eye, I have no collection, I have no quota.”
“I cannot allow this seemingly orchestrated move to blacken my reputation, which I molded through the years,” Santiago said.
Santiago vowed to comply with his duties until a permanent replacement has been appointed so as not to disrupt the operations of the bureau.
“I did not leave because I did not want to work in the administration anymore. I salute the President, I salute SOJ. They did not order me to do any illegal thing,” he said in Filipino.
