Marcos orders reorganization of NICA to adapt to 'evolving' threats

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has directed the reorganization of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) with the aim to strengthen the agency’s intelligence gathering to ensure national security amid changing threats. 

Signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Executive Order No. 54 states that there is a need to reorganize NICA to adapt to the evolving threats when it comes to national security. 

“There is a need to reorganize the NICA to adapt to the evolving threats to national security and ensure a more vigorous intelligence collection, intensify internal and external coordination with foreign and domestic counterparts, and prepare intelligence and security assessments and estimates using data analytics to ensure national security and promote national interest,” the EO stated. 

The Presidential Communications Office said that NICA was created through EO No. 246 (s. 1987). 

The latest EO directed the establishment of the Office of the Deputy Director General (ODDG) for Cyber and Emerging Threats, which is tasked to provide direction to overall planning, supervision and coordination of the NICA on counter-intelligence and counter-measures against cybersecurity threats, weapons of mass destruction, and other emerging threats. 

The ODDG for Cyber and Emerging Threats will be headed by a Deputy Director General with the rank of Assistant Secretary.

This post will be appointed by the President and shall be composed of Directorate for Counterintelligence and Security (DCS) and Directorate for Cyberintelligence and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (DCCWMD).

Further, the EO stated that the NICA would have additional functions including requesting the detail of personnel from other government departments, agencies, bureaus, offices, and institutions, subject to the approval of the head of office and availability of personnel, to ensure the effective coordination, integration and fusion of information relative to national intelligence concerns.

The NICA shall also have the authority to be requested by Constitutional bodies, the judiciary, and both Houses of Congress to integrate information and/or intelligence, and coordinate with appropriate government agencies the conduct of national activities involving intelligence and/or investigation on matters of national security.

The funding requirements for the implementation of the EO shall be charged against current and available appropriations of the NICA. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK/KG, GMA Integrated News