MANILA, Philippines — The groundwork for modernizing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had been laid during first year of the Aquino administration despite the meager budget allocated to the agency, NBI director Magtanggol Gatdula reported Monday.

In his state of the bureau address during the flag-raising ceremony, Gatdula said: “By letting people know that we are good stewards worthy of their confidence, we can establish the necessary goodwill that will enable us to go beyond our budget limitations.”

He pointed to the improvements made to the bureau’s aging facilities, such as establishment of the Case Information Monitoring System, landscaping of the NBI compound, and renovation of the Conference Room, Training Room, Visitor's Lounge and Lobby, the NBI Marker, and the retiling of the hallways.

Gatdula also mentioned the newly constructed detention cell for high-profile detainees like former Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force members Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao and Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao, and the new office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-National Academy Alumni and the Inter-Agency Council.

It is the first Philippine regional office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy Associates (FBINAA) that would serve as a round-the-clock human trafficking center watch in the country, he said.

“These projects were funded not only through our budgetary appropriation for 2010 and 2011 but most especially through the efforts of well-meaning friends and benefactors. I believe that the best way to thank them aside from expressing our appreciation is to show them how their contributions are working for the improvement of the bureau,” Gatdula said.

As far law enforcement was concerned, Gatdula admitted that the bureau had overcome tough challenges – such as the August 23 hostage crisis, the De La Salle University explosion, the reinvestigation of the Vizconde Massacre, the Globe Asiatique scandal and the local activities of the West African Drug Syndicate (WADS).

“The past year has been marked with commendable accomplishments. We give credit to our intelligence services with the arrest of Rolando Fajard who is one of the country's most wanted criminals,” he said.

The NBI was able to score heavily in the country's fight against human trafficking, and as a result the Philippines was removed from the tier 2 watch list in the 2011 US trafficking in persons, Gatdula said.

He also pointed out the recent recognition that the NBI received from the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) and Union de Fabricants (Unifab) which commended the bureau for their intensified effort in curbing piracy in the country during the 15th French edition of the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day.

Despite these accomplishments, there is still a lot to be done to attain the country's vision of becoming a world-class institution.