VACC: SC dismissal of staff in road rage a ‘game changer’
THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has cited as a “game changer” the prompt move of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario to dismiss a security staff involved in a road rage incident in Quezon City recently.
In a statement, VACC President Arsenio “Boy” Evangelista commended Rosario for delivering “instantaneous and even-handed justice” by firing Wilfredo Gonzales, a retired QC policeman, as a member of his staff.
“To many citizens on the brink of disillusionment about the country’s slow-grinding and sometimes unfair justice system, what the SC magistrate did gave them good reason for hope,” said Evangelista.
The anti-crime crusader stated: “To anti-crime advocates and crusaders for good governance, Justice Rosario’s action was a game changer towards attaining principled and swift justice in this country.,”
Evangelista pointed out that Rosario ditched Gonzales from his office’s security team immediately after watching the video footage of the road rage incident last Sunday.
“He found no justification in Wilfredo Gonzales’ dangerous act of physically assaulting an unarmed cyclist and then pulling out his gun and cocking the pistol towards the other guy,” noted the VACC head.
“Whether or not it was the cyclist that provoked the altercation, the High Tribunal magistrate delivered what he believes is the highest standard of justice that Filipinos deserve. This he did quietly and without a speck of propaganda fanfare,” Evangelista’s statement read.
He also lauded Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and the entire membership of the High Tribunal for “upholding the decision” of Rosario to dismiss Gonzales.
Earlier, Reps. Dan Fernandez (NUP, Sta. Rosa City) and Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Partylist” issued statements commending Rosario for his prompt action in disciplining Gonzales, a coterminous employee of his office.
Fernandez, chairman of the House Committee on Public Order and Security, noted that the SC magistrate was “took a quick and decisive action” in addressing the scandal.
In a manifestation during the congressional deliberation of the judiciary’s proposed budget last Thursday, Brosas commended Rosario for sacking Gonzales.
