MANILA, Philippines – She may well be called Agent Mybelle Aragon-GoBio. 

After becoming the first female president and CEO of Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) last year, this Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) alumna has received an unlikely offer from National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Melvin Matibag: to be a “confidential agent” of the agency. 

That’s not because of her skills in mathematics, the reason why she chose management engineering in college. It’s because she’s a daughter of a former NBI director, lawyer Antonio “Baby” Aragon. 

Aragon was picked by then-president Fidel V. Ramos to head the NBI after its then-chief, Epimaco Velasco, ran for governor of Cavite in the May 1995 elections. 

Unfortunately, Aragon got to head the NBI for only six days after a heart attack took his life on June 23, 1995. Aragon, however, was a career official, and had been serving with the bureau for 37 years. 

Aragon joined the NBI as a regular agent in 1959 after finishing his law degree from AdMU. He rose from the ranks and became head of Interpol Philippines, deputy director of the NBI’s intelligence services, and eventually appointed as director in June 1995.

Aragon was a widower when he died, orphaning his four children, Maria Socorro Isabel or Mybelle, sons Ferdinand and Alexander, and youngest daughter Maria Fatima. The four siblings had to support themselves during those difficult times.

During the signing last July 24 that extended the 15-year partnership between the NBI and RLC on having satellite offices offering NBI clearance services in Robinsons Malls, Aragon-GoBio said the event was more than just a ceremonial signing. 

“This has profound meaning for me and my family,” Aragon-GoBio said, noting that her father served in the NBI for more than 30 years. “He instilled in us a deep reverence for the bureau and the work of men and women of integrity in the bureau.” 

“Seeing now how far this partnership has come feels like an homage to his memory and principles that he held dear.”

‘Glory days’

In an interview with Rappler, Aragon-GoBio described the 3-decade era of her father’s service in the NBI as its “glory days.” It was tougher then to be an NBI agent since those who wanted to join had to have law degrees and be sharpshooters as well. 

That was also an era when NBI agents would be trained in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, described as a “premier learning center” where agents get “hands-on, real-life scenarios they will encounter in law enforcement.“ Aragon was also trained in the US Central Intelligence Agency on crisis management and hostage negotiations.

Aragon had an illustrious career in the investigative agency. Three years after joining the NBI, he was given a spot promotion following a gunbattle with nine armed robbers in San Juan, Rizal on July 7, 1962 during the Diosdado Macapagal administration.

Early in Aragon’s career, he was the team leader of what was called “Task Force Untouchables” against the so-called “Big 4 syndicate.” In a throwback Facebook post on May 28 about this 1960s syndicate, the NBI, then headed by Jose Lukban, described it as a “criminal network involved in extortion, kidnapping, intimidation, and protection rackets that infiltrated portions of the entertainment industry and various sectors in Metro Manila.” Among the victims were action stars Fernando Poe Jr. and Joseph “Erap” Estrada. 

The task force was said to be “an elite group of NBI agents carefully selected for their integrity, discipline, investigative competence, and resistance to corruption and intimidation.”

The Big Four syndicate was eventually busted, convicted, and crippled. 

In 1985, during the Marcos administration, Aragon was commended by the agency and the Philamlife president for a “high-profile gunbattle against terrorists” who threatened the Philamlife Building on Taft Avenue, Manila.

During the Cory Aquino administration, he was given a Presidential Award for “ridding the Bureau of Internal Revenue of corrupt officers through apprehension and prosecution.”

‘Public Servant’ legacy

Despite the threats that come with the territory, Aragon refused to have a bodyguard when he became NBI chief. 

“It was my papa’s philosophy, kung maayos ang trabaho mo [if your work is upright, you won’t need one],” Aragon-GoBio said. 

Instead of a chief of security, her father quipped that he had a “cheap security,” a frail-looking aide who served as cook for a diabetic NBI director, Aragon-GoBio said.

Another reality that comes with being in government is that many people ask for favors. 

Aragon-GoBio said her father lived with integrity, and was not the type would exchange favors for material rewards. Aragon also had a soft heart for the poor from his home town of Bacoor in Cavite province who needed help, and he would politely tell them that his only wish is to have his favorite fish dish, “pinangat na kitang,” (spotted scat fish stewed in sour broth).

Despite his short stint as NBI chief, Aragon-GoBio said her father instituted a practice that is seen in a number of NBI offices: instead of having the official position of an NBI staff under his or her name, the words “Public Servant” is written beneath. 

“My father refused to put [NBI] Director [under his name], just Atty. Antonio Aragon, Public Servant. Because that’s what they are,” she said. “It was my papa who started that.” 

“He proudly displayed the title of ‘public servant’ on his office nameplate like a badge of absolute honor and it is that rare, noble spirit — both as a defender of the people and the anchor of our home — that made my Papa the forever king of our hearts,” Aragon-GoBio wrote in a published piece for Father’s Day this year. 

“In a world of compromise, he chose to be rich only in friends, turning away wealth and accepting only home-cooked food (at most) from those he helped.”

Given her father’s record of service with the NBI, shouldn’t Aragon-GoBio accept the offer to be a confidential agent?

Aragon-GoBio laughed and said: “If I can serve the country… but I might be too obvious!” – Rappler.com