"We condemn and reject those who instill in the minds of policemen that they can get away with anything in the name of doing their job."
“It’s an isolated case,” we are told, regarding the killing of Sonya and Frank Anthony Gregorio on Sunday by Police Master Senior Sgt. Jonel Nuezca. A video that had gone viral showed Nuezca shooting, at close range, mother and son during an altercation.
But police records themselves showed that this was not the first case involving Nuezca. Last year, there were two cases of grave misconduct for homicide filed against him. These were dismissed for lack of evidence. In 2016, he was charged with serious neglect of duty; he did not show up at a court hearing as a witness in a court case. In 2014, he refused to take a drug test and was suspended for a month for less grave neglect of duty.
Despite all these, Nuezca, until the Paniqui killings over the weekend, had been assigned at the Parañaque City police crime laboratory in active duty.
Astoundingly, despite the blatant inhumanity and impunity of the shooting – done in the presence of Nuezca’s own daughter – some people have managed to find excuses for Nuezca’s act.
The chief of police of Bato town in Catanduanes, Police Captain Ariel Buraga, said the shooting should teach people to respect cops. “Kahit puti na ang buhok o ubanin na tayo, eh matuto tayong rumespeto sa ating mga kapulisan. Mahirap kalaban ang pagtitimpi at pagpapasensya (Even when our hair has turned white or gray, we must learn to respect our police. Restraint and patience are tough enemies.)”
The town mayor, Juan Rodulfo, found Buraga’s comments offensive and requested that he be replaced. Buraga was sacked Tuesday.
And then the chief of the PNP, Debold Sinas, extolled Nuezca’s surrender. “If you would notice, he decided to surrender. He did not run away and hide. He chose character probably after his anger subsided so that already shows that he is ready to face the charges.”
“Character,” of course, is a complicated word especially coming from somebody who flouted lockdown rules to celebrate his birthday.
Sinas also discouraged the public from taking videos and photos of crimes and uploading them on social media. Instead, he said, people should turn over these clips to the police who would know what to do with them.
It would not be difficult to imagine what cops might want to do about documentation of their own wrongdoing.
At the time of the shooting, Nuezca had just come home from his crime lab duty in Paranaque. He had with him his gun, however, because of the administration’s decision to allow cops to keep their firearms during the holiday season even if they were off duty.
Certainly, killings perpetuated by law enforcers, mandated to protect the lives of civilians, are not an isolated incident especially seen in the light of the war against illegal drugs. How many cases of shootings have we heard about, just because the supposed suspects resisted arrest? How many cases have escaped our attention?
These things happen because some members of the police are heady with entitlement that just because they enjoy some authority, they could play god in deciding whether people would live or die. They do a disservice to their fellow cops who are decent, upright and conscientious.
We join the rest of the nation in condemning Nuezca’s brutality, the brutality perpetuated by those who are tasked to protect us, and their leaders and enablers who breed this despicable system.
