InterAksyon.com
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MANILA, Philippines -- After the slew of cases filed against him after making waves for allegedly refusing to give way to the convoy of President Benigno Aquino III, Ricardo Pascua may soon be facing other, more serious charges after it was learned he had been dismissed from the Philippine National Police not once, but twice.
An investigation by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) showed that Pascua, who held the rank of Senior Police Officer 2, had been sacked on June 30, 2001 and December 10, 2002, both times for grave misconduct, but managed to return to the service through a "dubious" reinstatement.
The Napolcom is preparing charges of usurpation of authority and illegally drawing salaries and other benefits from the PNP against Pascua.
This is on top of the administrative and criminal charges he is facing for the incident on Tuesday -- driving without a license, keeping an illegally installed siren in his private vehicle and improper use of a commemorative plate -- and another possible case for causing one of Aquino’s escorts, SPO2 Randy Torres, to fall from his motorcycle as he tried to stop Pascua from blocking the path of the presidential convoy.
Napolcom Commissioner Eduardo Escueta said the first time Pascua was dismissed by the People’s Law Enforcement Board of Quezon City stemmed from a complaint filed by Amalia Buenaventura-Peregrina for robbery/extortion and violation of other laws.
The second dismissal was on a case filed by Siony Tabuac for illegal arrest of sidewalk vendors.
“In both cases, the PLEB ordered the dismissal of Pascua. Such orders of dismissal from the PLEB are immediately executory under Napolcom Memorandum Circular Nos. 91-002 and 2002-010. This means SPO2 Pascua should have considered himself dismissed from the service at that time,” Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who chairs the Napolcom, said.
Despite his dismissal, Pascua continued to represent himself as a police officer as he filed an appeal before the NCR Napolcom Regional Appellate Board, which upheld the two PLEB decisions.
On December 6, 2004, then Napolcom-NCR regional director Emilio Salumbides issued an order for Pascua’s dismissal addressed to then National Capital Regional Police Office Director Avelino Razon.
However, the dismissal was never implemented. Instead, Pascua appealed the decision and was reinstated in 2008.
The PNP will be asked to explain this seeming anomaly.
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