A regional trial court judge sentenced a former Philippine National Police (PNP) officer on Wednesday to up to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting former Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog while she was held in police custody six years ago.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 Judge Maria Angelica P. de Ramos found Police Lt. Col. Jigger Noceda, former chief of the PNP Custodial Service Unit, guilty of sexual assault under Article 266-A of the Revised Penal Code.

In a 34-page decision, De Ramos meted a prison sentence of 10 to 12 years and ordered Noceda to pay Parojinog P150,000 in civil indemnity, moral damages and exemplary damages.

The charges stemmed from complaints filed by the PNP Women and Children Protection Center after Parojinog accused Noceda of assaulting her in 2020 while she was detained under his supervision at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

Parojinog was held at the facility on drug and illegal firearms charges following a July 2017 police raid on her family’s compound that left her father, then-Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, and 14 others dead.

According to her sworn affidavit, Parojinog said Noceda sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions — on 9 June and 7 September 2020.

Parojinog stated that during the encounters, Noceda told her that no one would listen if she screamed and that he would not be fired even if she filed a complaint.

She reported the incidents to senior PNP officials, prompting an internal investigation and Noceda’s placement under restrictive custody.

Parojinog added that Noceda later confronted her on 26 September 2020, to ask that she retract her statement.

“I am begging you to deny the letter and I will not show myself to you again,” Parojinog quoted Noceda as saying in her affidavit. “I replied that I did not want to deny it because it would make me look like a liar. He responded, ‘I will just have myself relieved. Sorry, I should not have taken advantage of your situation.’ Those were his exact words to me, and after that, I never saw him again.”