Judge rapped for using stolen Pajero

For using a stolen Pajero seized from a man who he, incidentally, had cleared of car theft charges, a Tagum City judge is now facing criminal and administrative charges.

State prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said Judge Erasto Salcedo is liable for alleged violation of the Anti-Fencing Law (Presidential Decree 162).

So are Salcedo’s driver, Reynaldo David, and Leopoldo Gonzaga, whom the judge had cleared of car theft charges.

The Supreme Court has referred Salcedo’s administrative case to the office of Court Administrator Presbitero Velasco.

Police found Salcedo using the stolen Pajero in Tibungko, Davao City in June last year. The judge claimed that Gonzaga had lent it to him.

Investigation, however, showed that the Pajero’s chassis had been tampered and that the vehicle, belonging to one Reynaldo Uy of Ayala Alabang, was stolen while parked at the Ortigas Center in August 1998.

Salcedo also claimed being unaware that the Pajero was the same vehicle involved in Gonzaga’s case. Velasco said the judge "should have known better." — Delon Porcalla