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Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Former provincial police director passes away
By Ruby P. Siluibrico
RETIRED Chief Supt. Pedro Sanchez, former Iloilo police provincial director, succumbed to cardiac arrest Sunday morning inside his quarters at Mactan Cebu International Airport. He was 59.
Sanchez served for more than three years as police director of Iloilo in 1997. During his term, Iloilo became a gambling-free province while working with then governor, now Representative Arthur Defensor.
A police officer close to Sanchez confirmed the police official's death to Sun.Star Iloilo in a telephone interview.
Sanchez's close-in bodyguards used to fetch him at around 9 a.m. but that Sunday, Sanchez still failed to show up by 11 a.m. When they checked on him, he was already dead.
The night before, he complained of high blood pressure and he was told to see a doctor but he refused.
Airport assignment
Sanchez, a native of Bacolod City, was assigned at Mactan Cebu International Airport only last March 16.
He was chief of Airport Police Division and assistant general manager for Emergency and Security Division.
Previously, he was assistant chief of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga.
Iloilo stint
During his stint in Iloilo, the Iloilo Provincial Police Office solved two celebrated heinous crimes.
The first, the Sara massacre which claimed the lives of 11 persons. The mastermind was Ricky Braga, a leader of Ilonggo Group operating in Metro Manila, who was arrested after a weeklong operation and later convicted.
Outstanding policeman
Sanchez was awarded one of the top Ten Most Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines (TOPP) in 1998 and was then promoted to senior superintendent before going back to his mother unit in the Philippine Airforce.
Various sectors in Iloilo, including the Provincial Board, wrote petition letters to Camp Crame to let Sanchez remain as provincial police director after his more than three years of service in the province.
However, a police officer is not allowed to stay in one assignment for more than three years. He was then assigned at the Human Resource Development and Personnel Division of Police Regional Office 6.
Before he retired, was promoted to chief superintendent.
(April 27, 2005 issue)
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