Cop gets a year suspension for hitting tricycle driver with gun

MANILA, Philippines — A police officer in Quezon City was suspended for a year after he was found guilty of oppression and grave abuse of authority after he allegedly hit a tricycle driver using his firearm.

The Quezon City’s People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) said in its seven-page decision that Police Officer 2 or Police Corporal Rick Tanguilan “inflicted bodily harm upon the person of the Complainant by hitting the latter’s head with the butt of a gun. And he was able to do this because Respondent gravely abused his authority as police officer.”

The case stemmed from tricycle driver Jerry Jermina’s complaint that accused Tanguilan hit him several times using the butt of his firearm in January 2017.

PLEB, an office that acts on complaints against errant policemen, is handling about 40 cases awaiting resolution as of July 2020.

“The current PLEB is working double time to hear and resolve these inherited cases.  The QC PLEB targets a zero-case backlog by January 2021,” PLEB director Attorney Rafael Calinisan said in a statement.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said she ordered PLEB to “act on all cases with dispatch, and weed out Quezon City of abusive policemen.”

Catcalling incident?

In a previous report from INQUIRER.net, Ric Tanguilan was also implicated in a catcalling incident. A 21-year-old woman accused Tanguilan of catcalling her as she walked on the street in Quezon City.

However, Calinisan said he has yet to confirm if Tanguilan is the same police, who was relieved due to the catcalling incident in 2017.

“I am aware of the incident but I don’t know if he is the same person. Doon sa catcalling incident niya, there was no case filed in our office on that matter,” he said.

Calinisan said they have yet to receive an update from police about Tanguilan’s profile.

Data from Police Brigadier General Idebrandi Usana, Philippine National Police spokesperson, showed that Tanguilan has a case of grave coercion in 2013 and abandonment of post in 2019.

Usana said Tanguilan’s salary was forfeited while facing administrative cases.

Tanguilan is still in the police service while facing the administrative case, Usana said.

JPV