MANILA, Philippines — Wilfredo “Willie” Gonzales, a former cop who went viral over the weekend in a video where he was seen assaulting a cyclist, was demoted and eventually dismissed in 2018 due to administrative and criminal cases filed against him, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo confirmed that Gonzales retired in 2016, but his previous administrative cases for grave misconduct, grave abuse, and conduct unbecoming of a police officer led to his demotion and dismissal.
“After nga nitong insidenteng nagviral itong si Gonzales, nahalungkat natin itong kanyang mga kaso at lumalabas nga po na nung 2016 nag compulsory retire nga siya after attaining yung 56 year old retirement age,” Fajardo said in an interview over dzBB.
(After the road rage incident went viral, we discovered previous cases filed against Gonzales. In 2016, he compulsorily retired after attaining 56 years of retirement age.)
“Subalit yung kaso po niya nung 2006 na grave misconduct nagtuloy tuloy po na i-hear dahil nag-pending ito bagamat siya ay nagretire. Lumabas yung decision nung 2017, na siya ay dismissed,” she added.
(However, the hearing for his grave misconduct case from 2006 continued until the decision on his dismissal was made in 2017.)
Based on the documents obtained by INQUIRER.net, Gonzales was previously a Police Officer III (PO3) when he was administratively charged with grave misconduct, simple misconduct, and conduct unbecoming of a police officer in 2006.
He was supposed to be dismissed from the police service upon the order of the then PNP chief; however, Gonzales filed an appeal before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and National Appellate Board (NAB). His request was denied, and affirmed the decision of the police force’s chief on September 17, 2010.
Dissatisfied with this decision, Gonzales filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) with the NAB, which was granted on May 8, 2012, adjusting his penalty from dismissal to one rank demotion from PO3 to PO2.
A special order from the NCRPO was likewise issued on July 19, 2012, again adjusting his supposed dismissal to rank demotion from PO2 to PO1.
Twelve years later, he was found guilty of grave misconduct, which led the PNP to impose the penalty of dismissal from service, signed by then PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde.
Aside from his dismissal, Fajardo said that Gonzales’ retirement benefits were also forfeited, which means he needs to pay back any government pension or benefits he received through the years.
“Malaki-laki po ito [nakuha niya] mga milyon din. Pero di natin alam kung ang inavail niya ay yung automatic na pension na monthly; aalamin pa natin kung magkano ang nakuha niya,” she disclosed.
(Gonzales received about a million, but we still need to find out if he availed the automatic monthly pension or how much he got.)
In the case of criminal complaints previously filed against Gonzales, Fajardo explained that the force only has access to the list of members and former officers charged with administrative cases.
She added that PNP has yet to uncover the criminal complaint filed against the dismissed cop in 2006 and what happened to this case.
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