Call of duty
HE somehow has a Sherlock-Holmes-ish job as an agent at the National Bureau of Investigation, dealing with different sorts of cases that range from murder to illegal recruitment,
among others, but when asked what his greatest weapon is especially that his life is prone to risk given the kind of work he has?
PRAYER. That was his quick answer.
It is certainly not guns or other sophisticated sleuthing gadgets that makes NBI-11 acting regional director lawyer Arnold Rosales feel assured of his safety and in dealing with his call of duty as evidenced by his answer.
Being designated as the new acting regional director of the NBI-11 office after the former holder of the position, regional girector Lawyer Dante Gierran was appointed as the National Director for the same government agency, Rosales has then assumed the position last June 30.
Born in Danao, Cebu and having been considered Manila as his comfort zone since it is where he had established his career and contacts as a young NBI agent, Rosales admitted that he was at first not so sold out about the idea of being assigned in Davao. But everything changed the moment he had set foot in the place and had realized that he had to let go of his comfort zone to discover new opportunities.
Growing up in a family of lawyers, Rosales had always wanted to be a lawyer himself, a profession he had achieved through time with determination and diligence but he had never anticipated that he would soon become an NBI agent, he shared.
What led him to become an NBI agent was unexpected. Rosales said that when he took the BAR exam in 1999, there was a bomb explosion at the NBI office that killed several people including bureau officers and investigators of the agency. Reading that news had prompted him to pursue the path to becoming an NBI agent as he had realized the office was in dire need of officers.
He then went at the NBI Academy and studied there for four months.
This was the next step he made after completing his accounting degree at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Bachelor of laws Degree at the University of Visayas, and eventually passing the BAR exam in 1999.
He was also able to practice as a trial lawyer in 2000 to 2002 at the Barreta, Rosales Law Office in Cebu City.
The journey to being an NBI-11 acting regional director started first at a low position where he was designated as an Agent 2 of the Pagadian District Office but he later transferred to the Special Task Force (NBI Main Office) in Manila. He rose from the position to becoming a senior agent.
He also went through becoming a Chief of Staff of the deputy director for Technical Services (NBI Main Office), Executive Officer in International Operations Division-Interpol, executive officer in Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division, and finally to becoming an acting assistant regional director in NBI-11 office before assuming his current position now.
It sure was a long journey for Rosales but according to him; the keywords for accomplishing what he has right now are "simplicity and humility".
"If your concept in life is not simple, you will not become successful because doing otherwise will make things complicated," Rosales said in Filipino.
"I am a transparent leader. What you see is what you get," Rosales shared when asked about what type of leadership he is going to bring to his subordinates.
"Leadership by example and open communication," these are what Rosales shared to be very important in delivering good leadership among his people.
As a new leader of the NBI-11 Office, Rosales has high hopes and visions for the betterment of the office and that includes the development of their office's physical structures, services, and operations.