By LITO RULONA Correspondent REGIONAL State Prosecutor Jaime Umpa yesterday took the cudgels for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) amid assertions made by a lawyer that agents illegally arrested former Crime against Persons and Property Desk chief Ereneo Ramirez and his four men at Camp Alagar on Tuesday. Senior Insp. Ramirez and his men have been detained at the NBI regional office in connection with the Oct. 23 kidnapping of Enrique Fernandez III. Umpa said the arrest was “valid and legal.” One of the lawyers of the suspects, Noel Vedad, earlier questioned the arrest of the officers by a team led by NBI assistant regional director Hans Barbaso, calling it “invalid and illegal.” Umpa said the contention was flawed, pointing out that kidnapping is a “continuing crime” and therefore, those committing it can be arrested. Since it is “continuing,” he said, there was no need for the NBI to secure an arrest warrant. “The NBI can have a hot pursuit operation because kidnapping is a continuing crime, from the time the person is kidnapped,” he said. The NBI pressed charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention and carnapping against  Senior Insp. Ramirez, SPO2 Jojo Lim, SPO1 Alaindelon Tacubao, PO3 Alejandro Ubanan and PO2 Sangkula Hussein following their arrest at the Regional Police Holding and Accounting Office in Camp Alagar on Tuesday. Barbaso shared the same view as Umpa’s. “Ang crime nagpadayon mao nga kung kinsa kadtong nakit-an puwede gyud arrestohon. Pasalamat lang ta kay nadala nato sila peacefully,” he said. Meanwhile, Umpa said it would now be up to the City Prosecutor’s Office (CPO) if it would assign the case to a panel or only one prosecutor.