Sharpshooter turned judge takes over NBI

President Marcos has appointed Jaime Santiago, a former judge and police sharpshooter, as the new director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

- Mark Ernest Villeza

Santiago, who replaced Medardo de Lemos, took his oath before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin yesterday.

Santiago said among his top priorities in the bureau is to fight cybercrime.

“We will focus on cybercrimes. There are so many scams. I want to focus on those as much as possible,” Santiago said in a chance interview after he made a courtesy call on the Department of Justice (DOJ) later yesterday.

Santiago added that his priorities include a “speedy” issuance of NBI clearances.

During his visit, Santiago met with DOJ officials led by Undersecretary Raul Vasquez. Santiago said that his marching orders from the department were to “improve the services of the NBI and restore the public trust in the agency.”

Santiago served as acting executive or presiding judge of regional trial courts in the cities of Manila and Tagaytay. He is a former Metropolitan Trial Court judge of Manila.

He served as assistant city prosecutor in Manila from October 2003 to December 2006.