THE police official who was accused of sexually assaulting former Ozamiz City vice mayor Nova Princess Parojinog also has a pending administrative case over alleged torture, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Camilo Cascolan said on Monday, October 12, 2020.
Cascolan said Lieutenant Colonel Jigger Noceda was accused of torturing an inmate when he was still assigned to the Carmona, Cavite Police Office in May 2015.
Noceda was the chief of the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame when he was charged recently for rape, acts of lasciviousness, unjust vexation, and a violation of the Safe Spaces Act before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
Parojinog, his accuser, is detained in the PNP custodial center over drug charges.
Parojinog said Noceda sexually assaulted her on two occasions, on June 9, 2020 and on September 7, 2020.
Noceda has been placed under restrictive custody pending the conduct of investigation.
Cascolan said the PNP-Internal Affairs Service (IAS) will also conduct their own investigation on the matter.
Cascolan said this prompted him to order all police commanders to evaluate their personnel especially those with pending cases.
“Personal files will be check and evaluated by each unit. They should be able to do that so that they can know where to place our people gaya ng sinabi natin na right people for the right position,“ he said.
“We will not tolerate any wrongdoings of our people. As what I've said, kung wala kang rason, we will have to arrest you, file cases against you, put you in jail," he added.
Cascolan said as part of the intensified internal cleansing of the PNP, a total of 15,768 police personnel have been penalized for administrative offenses since 2016.
He said those punished were involved in criminal activity including illegal drugs, grave misconduct, serious neglect of duty, serious irregularity, malversation, dishonesty, and graft and corruption.
He said 4,591 were summarily dismissed from the service for serious infractions, while 7,888 were meted suspension terms, 846 cops were demoted in rank.
He said 608 errant personnel were penalized with forfeiture of salary, 119 were restricted to quarters, and the privileges of 205 others were withheld.
Among those dismissed from service, 549 were for drug-related cases, including 410 who tested positive for drug use and 139 for involvement in illegal drug activities.
“The PNP internal cleansing program doesn’t stop there, rather it will continue to be implemented with greater zeal and commitment in the best interest of transparency and accountability in public service,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cascolan said he has also ordered the IAS to conduct an investigation on the altercation between Florence Norial, a Grab driver, and Police Captain Ronald Saquilayan.
Saquilayan arrested Norial on the evening of October 6, 2020 outside a coffee shop in Taguig City after Norial hit Saquilayan for refusing to move his vehicle so she could pass through the driveway.
Norial said she was just acting on self defense and insisted that she was illegaly arrested and detained. (SunStar Philippines)