How Reynaldo Wycoco will be remembered

Yes, he was a pain in the ass for the opposition. Pero para sa akin, bali wala yan.

But what really upsets me was the way Wycoco harassed whistleblower Acsa Ramirez up to the very end with trumped up charges and false accusations which led to acsa's miscarriage.

You're not a nice man, Director Wycoco. Not a nice man.

From the Inquirer:

"HOW many times do I have to be cleared before the NBI stops hounding me?"

Acsa Ramirez, whistle-blower on the 431-million-peso tax diversion scam at the Binangonan branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines, was dismayed upon learning that the National Bureau of Investigation had appealed the Ombudsman's decision clearing her for a second time.

Ramirez's lawyer, Virgie Pinlac, said her client had been "overjoyed" that the bureau's earlier motion for reconsideration was denied, but was now worried by the petition for review filed before the office of Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo.

Pinlac said she would question the filing because it was not part of legal procedure, but she was sure the petition would soon be dismissed.

Lawyer Elfren Meneses, head of the NBI Anti-Fraud and Computer Crime Division, argued that the bureau merely wanted to exhaust all legal means, and that this was the usual paper route. He did not want to be accused of not following procedure, he said, or of neglecting a case.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said the bureau did not have anything against Ramirez. ''There is nothing foul, illegal or desperate about the NBI's petition," he said. "When Ombudsman Marcelo decides (on the petition), the bureau will rest its case."

Ramirez had suffered a miscarriage a few weeks before she was cleared for a second time, according to Pinlac, who pointed out that this was around the first anniversary of her client's presentation as a suspect in the scam by Wycoco and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Now Ramirez is back with her two children, after staying in a safehouse provided by Landbank.

From the Manila Times:

PRESIDENT Arroyo has finally and rightly apologized to Acsa Ramirez for having publicly identified her as a criminal perpetrator in ceremonies that Ramirez thought was for congratulating her in revealing a crime. The public presentation of Ramirez was, it turns out, a terrible mistake. The obstinate refusal of NBI’s Director Wycoco to rectify the mistake, however, had him not only refusing to apologize to Ramirez but—for the clear purpose of saving face—going all out “to prove” his case against the hapless woman. “Due process,” he called it; “nothing personal,” he continued, just “standard operating procedure” of exhausting all legal remedies available to government.

“Appalling,” is what most everyone else characterizes the relentless and ridiculous prosecution. The stress took its toll upon Acsa; she suffered a miscarriage when, after her case was dismissed by the Ombudsman, Wycoco announced he was instructing the NBI to “appeal” the dismissal.

Related:

ARROYO DECLARES LANDBANK WHISTLE-BLOWER A SUSPECT

Malacanang, August 16, 2002 (STAR) By Marichu Villanueva and Delon Porcalla - President Arroyo, seemingly displeased by sharp criticism that she wrongfully tagged as suspect Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) cashier Acsa Ramirez, felt vindicated yesterday and declared that Ramirez was indeed a suspect after all.

Virtually acting as if she were the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the President said, "Let me just clarify what I read in the newspapers that she (Acsa) is a whistle-blower. She did not blow the whistle. She reported a totally unrelated crank account from a crank trying to open a P26-billion account."

Mrs. Arroyo narrated that NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco "said we should give her a medal for reporting a crank account. But it is totally separate from the tax scam where there is no record of her having reported what she should have."