Drilon wants intelligence coordinating agency reorganized

Senator Franklin Drilon on Wednesday sought the reorganization of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), saying its functions were "illegally" expanded during the Arroyo administration. "This committee is strongly suggesting to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to submit a reorganization plan which will put NICA in its proper perspective... in its proper function," Drilon said during the Senate hearing on the budget of NICA. He explained that under its original charter, NICA was only an agency tasked to coordinate and analyze intelligence information gathered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the National Bureau of Investigation, among others. NICA was created through Executive Order 246 issued by the late President Corazon Aquino on July 24, 1987. The executive order effectively abolished the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and the Civil Intelligence and Security Agency (CISA), which Drilon said were tainted with human rights violations during the martial law years. According to Section 2 of EO 246, the NICA "shall be the focal point for the direction, coordination and integration of government activities involving intelligence, and the preparation of intelligence estimates of local and foreign situations for the formulation of national policies by the President." However, Drilon said former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expanded its mandate by issuing Administrative Order 68 and Executive Orders 69 and 608 which empowered it to have intelligence agents and employ foreign liaison officers. "NICA is only a coordinating agency and should not perform line functions. (It) should not have intelligence agents. They should be transferred to the pertinent agencies which gather intelligence information," said Drilon, who heads the Senate finance committee. He said NICA has 13 regional offices with 811 positions and six intelligence attachés in London, China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, and Indonesia — which he said were created through a lump sum item under their intelligence funds. "With the expanded functions of NICA which were improperly and illegally done, there is the danger of reviving the National Intelligence and Security Authority (NISA) and this is what we will prevent," he said. The NICA has a proposed budget of P442.3 million for 2011. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV