All year round, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Department of Justice’s (DOJs) arresting arm, actively and competently did its work. It’s most prominent cases in 2009 were: • The Maguidanao massacre,
• The sex videos, shown on the Internet, of surgeon Hayden Kho with celebrities,
• The encounter with and end of the Alvin Flores armed-robbery group,
• The shooting to death of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle’s son over a traffic altercation,
• The taking into custody of Cesar Mancao and Glen Dumlao,
• The probe on the death of Ted Failon’s wife,
• The arrest of and extradition of Graham Lim, BAP’s former secretary general,
• The monitoring of prices at the height and in the aftermath of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng,
• The recent arrest of a suspected al-Qaeda member.

Alvin Flores gang
One of the biggest accomplishments of the bureau was the liquidation of notorious Alvin Flores and three of his armed-robbery group members. On October 29 in an encounter in their hideout in Dodong’s Resort,
Barangay Estaca, Compostela, Cebu, the notorious gang of armed robbers high-profile since the group was known for using police uniform and using high-calibered firearms.

The operation was carried out after NBI Director Nestor Mantaring ordered a manhunt against Flores and his group following the daring Rolex store heist in Greenbelt 5, Makati City.

The bureau has yet to arrest Flores’ sister, Merlinda Flores, alias Mailyn Villamor and some five remaining members of the group, one of which was said to be a member of the New People’s Army, who are still at-large.

The encounter gave the much needed impression that law enforcement is still functioning in the country and that we can still trust government’s power and its ability to enforce the rule of law.

Steamy sex videos
The NBI has yet to identify the person who first uploaded the video into the Internet. The bureau is still waiting for the information from the United States (US) counterpart in uncovering Internet protocol (IP).
Assistant regional Director Vicente de Guzman 3rd, Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) chief, said the bureau had already uncovered the administrator of the website and charges had been filed against them. But the person who gave the sex video to the website remains unknown. The person uses a G-mail account and G-mail is US-based. So the Department of Justice requested the US Justice Department to help trace the IP address.

Meanwhile, actress Katrina Halili’s counsel said that besides Kho, cosmetic surgeon Dr. Victoria Belo-Henares, Erick Johnston Chua, Dr. Mark Herbert Rosario and Princess Marie Velasco, the DOJ must also asked the NBI to investigate four more personalities—Cris Arenas, Cedric Lee, Manuel Villaroman and Joey Umandap to uncover those persons behind the uploading and distribution of sex videos and to determine if they have some participation with the case.

Trina Etong case
On May 21, after around a month investigations, NBI issued their final findings on the case of Trinidad Etong, wife of radio and TV personality Ted Failon, saying that she had committed suicide, clearing all cloud of doubts and speculations that surrounded the case.

NBI director Nestor Mantaring said “after careful perusal of the testimonial evidence and conscientious evaluation of the results, recommendations and conclusions of the Criminalistics, working as a team, as regards their investigative, technical scientific, medical and psychiatric analyses, concludes that Etong indeed committed suicide.”

Mantaring said that the NBI, supported by all its findings and investigative leads, “has now established and concludes that no other person was present, or was with Trina inside the bathroom the moment the trigger was pulled and that the victim has the capability, motive and means of doing such acts.”

NBI-National Capital Region head Lawyer Edward Villarta also revealed that Etong suffered “major depressive disorder” that led to the incident on April 15 inside a bathroom in the couple’s house in Tierra Pura Homes, Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

BAP former official sacked
On December 7, NBI operatives nabbed Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Secretary General Graham Lim, acting on the declaration that he is an alien by the Supreme Court. He was arrested by agents of the NBI-Interpol Division who served the warrant of deportation on Lim around 2:30 p.m. at Makati City Hall and later turned him over to the Bureau of Immigration.

However, up to the last moment, Lim insisted on his being a Filipino citizen.

Lim had been a high-profile sports-world figure.

Custodians of Mancao and Dumlao
Following the 2000 Salvador Dacer-Emmanuel Corbito double murder, the bureau has kept secured former police Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao and former police Senior Supt. Cezar Mancao 2nd, making the two witnesses attend court proceedings.

The two had kept on tagging former deposed President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who headed the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime task Force.

Young Ebarle’s death
The NBI has sought the assistance of the International Police (Interpol) to arrest Jason Ivler who was tagged the shooter-murderer of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., son of a Malacañang official, Undersecretary Renato Victor Ebarle Sr., over a traffic altercation on November 18 in Quezon City. The government has also announced a P1-million reward for the arrest of Ivler.

The immigration officials earlier announced that there were no records that Ivler went out of the country.

Monitoring of prices during typhoons
Amid reports that some businessmen overpriced basic commodities following the declaration of a national calamity as a result of typhoons, the NBI together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) closely monitored the prices of commodities and arrested violators, by tapping all units in the Intelligence Services to conduct strict monitoring on traders.

NBI-Intelligence Services personnel have been deployed to join DTI personnel to arrest businessmen who are overpricing goods.

They also subpoenaed big-time supermarkets to answer charges of alleged overpricing.

Representatives and counsels of Save More Drug Store, Robinson’s Supermarket Inc., Plaza Fair Supermarket, PARCO, SM Group of Companies (Hypermarket) and Mightee Mart appeared at the NBI main office to air their respective positions.

Maguindanao massacre
The National Bureau of Investigation has secured high-profile character, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town within bureau premises. Ampatuan Jr. is the principal accused in the Maguindanao massacre of at least 57 persons, including 30 journalists.

The bureau, along with the Philippine National Police, has already filed charges before courts based on the
evidence gathered.

All these were capped of by having year-round raids, apprehensions and other operations against criminals. These operations were stopped at the start of the Christmas season so that these are not seen to be suspected of being the operative’s means of getting “gifts” from criminals.

The bureau has indeed made a good impression this year, and hopefully, in the following years to come. BY RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4th REPORTER