[3] The agency also serves as the focal point for the government's counterintelligence activities and operation; acts as Secretariat to the Anti-Terrorism Council; and serves as head of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict's Situation Awareness and Knowledge Management Cluster.

[8] The NISA was then headed by Gen. Fabian Ver and was alleged to be responsible for various human rights abuses, primarily during the martial law period.

[12][14] NICA agents were responsible for the arrest of several Abu Sayyaf members, including Al Qaeda-linked bomber Abdulmukim Edris.

[18][19] In 2011, Juan Ponce Enrile challenged President Aquino to declassify intelligence files from the former NISA.

The bill would have allowed NICA agents to covertly conduct electronic surveillance operations against foreign countries, terrorists and private groups without the need of having a warrant or a court order in an emergency situation.

[21] A warrantless operation outside the Philippine territory would also need the approval by the Director-General of the NICA and the Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

[21] However, since it was not enacted by the end of the 17th Congress, the bill is already considered "dead" in the House of Representatives Committee on National Defense and Security.

However, NICA has also now been tasked to provide its recommendation on an application for proscription seeking to declare any individual or group as a terrorist before the Court of Appeals.