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Quezon City cop reinstated after wrongful termination

Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

June 10, 2026 | 12:00am

Quezon City cop reinstated after wrongful termination

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Chinese actress Zhang Yingfei and officials of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. distribute supplies and hygiene kits to 500 students of the Quezon City High School yesterday. EDD GUMBAN Members of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office prepare search and rescue equipment to be deployed to earthquake-hit areas in Mindanao yesterday. 18 ‘bagmen’ face libel raps anew By JOSIAH ANTONIO and DELON PORCALLA After being accused of receiv ing suitcases filled with “dirty money,” Manila Rep. Benny Abante Jr. has filed cyberlibel and libel charges against 18 men and their lawyer Levito Baligod. “I vehemently deny the incorrect, baseless and misleading allegations made (during a Feb. 24 press confer ence),” Abante said in his complaint affidavit filed before the Department of Justice. The 18 men have been criticized for their flip-flopping claims that lawmakers received kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. luggage and strangers, establishing nothing.” Abante argued that the respon dents publicized their accusations before authorities could evaluate the same, resulting in a trial by publicity. “To make matters worse, the press conference paraded the libelous sa laysay (affidavit) – then still unsigned by the 18 respondents and unnota rized, thus not under oath – before the public eye,” Abante said. “I have never dealt with or ever seen any of the 18 (men). I have no dealings with regard to deliveries of money from former congressman Zaldy Co,” he added. Abante said the allegations lack specific dates “or circumstance of the claimed delivery and receipt, while photographs show only cash, “Coupled with their groundless tale, this amounts to nothing more than smoke and mirrors slander,” Abante said. Inconsistencies remain in the un signed document and the notarized affidavit submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman as well as Baligod’s statement implicating Rep. Leila de Lima, Abante noted. These developments demonstrate “a reckless disregard for truth” and reveal that the accusations were “pa tently unreliable and contrived,” the complaint stated. Prosecutors should find probable cause and file charges against the respondents, Abante said. QC cop reinstated after wrongful termination By GHIO ONG The Court of Appeals has ordered the reinstatement of a policeman who supposedly resigned amid an internal cleansing effort in 2023.

Miguel De Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals has ordered the reinstatement of a policeman who supposedly resigned amid an internal cleansing effort in 2023.

Col. Fernando Ortega had submitted himself to evaluation after personnel of the previous Philippine National Police (PNP) administration were implicated in the illegal drug trade.

In his Jan. 29, 2023 letter to President Marcos and then interior secretary Benhur Abalos, Ortega said he would tender his courtesy resignation should he be found liable.

A panel led by former PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. and former PNP director for personnel and records management Maj. Gen. Robert Rodriguez had deemed Ortega “resigned” in July 2023.

The appellate court’s Third Division granted Orterga’s appeal, ordering the PNP to reinstate him as deputy director for administration of the Quezon City Police District.

Ortega’s back pay and “all statutory benefits to be computed from the time he was deemed resigned until he is reinstated to his position” must be paid by the PNP and Department of the Interior and Local Government, the appeals court ruled.

“Treating the letter as one of resignation and therefore severing the petitioner’s employment with the government without the usual process of law violated his due process rights,” Associate Justice Rogelio Largo said in his ruling promulgated on June 1.

It was “gravely erroneous” for Acorda and Rodriguez “to send a letter to the Office of the President about the petitioner’s purported resignation, which resulted in the President’s ‘acceptance,’” the court said.

No administrative proceeding was initiated against Ortega, the court found.