PNP probes release of unpaid wages for twice dismissed cop

How could an erring police official be entitled to back wages if he was axed twice from the Philippine National Police (PNP) for serious offenses?

Even PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome is perplexed over the circumstances surrounding Senior Police Officer 2 Ricardo Pascua’s reinstatement to police service and the manner by which he was able to claim his unpaid salaries dating back to the time of his dismissal.

For this reason, Bartolome has ordered a review of Pascua’s service records after the latter was accosted for refusing to yield to the convoy of President Benigno Aquino III last month.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo earlier directed Bartolome to drop the policeman from the PNP roster after records from the National Police Commission showed that he had actually been fired from the service twice.

“I directed our personnel to dig deeper into all the records so that we can determine really where the break in the administrative system is. We noticed that the recording of cases has some problems,” Bartolome told reporters on Thursday.  He did not give additional details, including the total amount of back wages received by Pascua.

“It seems (Pascua’s) appeal was approved by a higher office,” he said.

In a letter to the INQUIRER, Malacañang Assistant Secretary Jose Emmanuel David Eva III admitted that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa granted Pascua’s request for the release of his back wages on April 11.

Bartolome said he had ordered the PNP finance division to determine if the release of Pascua’s unpaid salaries was a violation of government policies.

He added that the PNP administrative division records showed that Pascua’s petition seeking the release of his back wages was initially junked by the PNP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Based on the records of Napolcom, Pascua was dismissed in June 2001 and December 2002 based on two separate decisions by two People’s Law Enforcement Board offices in Quezon City.

He was later allowed by the DILG to return to active service after he appealed one of the cases. However, the other dismissal order against him remains in force after Napolcom upheld the PLEB’s decision.