YOURS truly was among those pleasantly surprised to read from the news that Department of Justice (DOJ) Senior Undersecretary and head of its Law Enforcement Cluster (LEC), Jesse Andres, has been designated by Justice Secretary Boying ‘My Bossman’ Remulla, as Acting Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), effective this Monday, August 18, after the “shocking” (according to DOJ spox Mico Clavano) irrevocable resignation of Judge Jaime ‘Jimmy’ Santiago three days before, August 15.
I have had the luxury of working with Usec. Jesse up close and personal until September last year, when I was still the executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), which is under the supervisory authority of his office as chair of the government’s AO 35, the Inter-Agency Committee on Extra Legal Killings.
Before that, I used to interview him as counsel for the businessman who filed a libel complaint against online news platform ‘Rappler’ for besmirching the man’s reputation in relation to the ongoing campaign at the time of the PNoy administration to impeach Chief Justice Corona.
That case led to the conviction of Maria Ressa for libel and added another “feather” in the already overladen “cap” of Usec. Jesse as a defense lawyer.
I always appreciated Usec. Jesse’ calm and obvious intelligence in the way he talks and analyze any problem or situation. He is obviously too a good judge of character.
With his wealth of experience, I am sure he possesses not only the courage but also the fortitude to pursue what is right in the service of justice, law and order.
And given the context of Judge Santiago’s departure from the NBI—it is fast descending into the abyss of corruption, intrigue, and criminality– I am sure that Usec. Jesse has sharpened his intellectual blade so he can easily cut the crap that his new subordinates at the agency would be feeding him.
No matter how long his stint at the NBI would be, here is hoping that Usec. Jesse can steer the agency back to the path of public trust.
Good luck!