IF this were basketball, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seems to have become the go-to guy in tricky situations, like the one we are in now when high-profile killings occur and the credibility of the police gets questioned. In the killing of Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III, for example, the NBI was first in Gov. Hilario Davide III’s mind when he was asked about the conduct of a probe.
“This is a high-profile crime. NBI, para nako, has better capability sa investigation,” he said.
In the eyes of many, the NBI is synonymous with independent investigations. A recent example is the case involving Tejero barangay councilor Jessielou Cadungog whose driver-cum-bodyguard William Macaslang Jr. shot and killed a policeman, PO3 Eugene Calumba, whom he accused of attempting to ambush him while riding a motorcycle driven by a police asset, Michael Banua.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, instead of bringing Cadungog and Macaslang to the police when they sought his help, placed them under NBI custody instead. The NBI was also requested to conduct a parallel probe on the incident.
But while this has long been the function of the NBI, the idea that it can conduct independent probes under the present setup, when accusations that some of the killings are state-sponsored are swirling, has been questioned by some sectors. The NBI, after all, is part of the state being under the Department of Justice.
It is actually unfair, though, to put an asterisk on the NBI’s capability to conduct a truly independent investigation especially in cases where policemen are suspected as the perpetrators. That should only be done after assessing the unit’s success or failure in solving the controversial cases it has been asked to work on now.
If it is true that state-sponsored killings are happening, notably in the war against illegal drugs, then NBI elements are currently in an unenviable position. More so if the questioned act is not done independently by separate groups or individuals but sanctioned from above.