EXCEPT for cases involving heinous crimes, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is not conducting any operations for at least four weeks.
NBI 7 Assistant Director Augusto Isidoro said the moratorium is meant to avoid perceptions that the agents are just trying to extort money during the Christmas season.
“If we’ll be conducting several operations during the Christmas season, maybe the public will think that we’re just after money,” he told CDN yesterday.
The traditional moratorium began last Monday, December 14, and will last “until further notice.”
Usually, Isidoro said, the moratorium is lifted during the first week of January.
Among the cases that will have to wait include estafa, Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, and bouncing checks.
“We temporarily could not operate on something that involves properties and money,” Isidoro said.
However, the NBI, he said, could still run after persons who are linked to heinous crimes like murder, kidnap for ransom, and human trafficking.