Philippine National Police chief Gen. Debold Sinas said the PNP will file administrative and criminal charges against a police sergeant who shot dead a mother and her son in Paniqui, Tarlac, following an altercation.
At the Department of Justice (DOJ), Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the justice department will immediately conduct a preliminary investigation into the incident once the PNP files appropriate charges against the suspect identified as Police Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca, 46, who is assigned at the Crime Laboratory based in Parañaque City.
The DOJ also said it has found probable cause to indict Nuezca for two counts of murder for the fatal twin shooting.
“Upon inquest, the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Tarlac has found probable cause to indict respondent Jonel Nuezca for two counts of murder,” the justice chief said.
The case will subsequently be elevated before a trial court, he added.
The administrative charges would be taken up by the PNP while the criminal charges, possibly murder, would be filed in court after it goes through preliminary investigation.
Sinas and a number of officials, including Interior Secretary Eduardo Año condemned the “cold-blooded” murder, even as the PNP chief called the shooting as an isolated incident, which in no way mirrors the police organization as a whole.
“This time, the evidence is very strong against him that is why he was already under our custody and will be charged,” Sinas said of Nuezca, who shot dead Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son, Anthony, 25. The suspect and the victims are neighbors at Barangay Cabayaoasan in Paniqui, Tarlac.
A video that went viral showed Nuezca shooting the victims in the head at close range with his service pistol. He also pumped another bullet into the head of the woman after she fell on the ground.
Nuezca escaped after the killing, but Police Regional Office 3 Director Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said the policeman surrendered hours after the incident to the Rosales Police Station in Pangasinan, which turned him over to the Paniqui Police Station.
The motive of the killing is still being looked into, but de Leon said the incident happened “after an altercation when the suspect confronted Anthony Gregorio, who was reportedly under the influence of liquor for using a polyvinyl pipe locally known as boga and creating noise which is prohibited.”
“After which, their old grudge over the right of way [land dispute] was brought out provoking the suspect,” said de Leon, who condemned the incident.
“Police Regional Office 3 strongly condemns this ruthless incident and I can guarantee that there will be no whitewash in the investigation and any infraction, or wrongdoing committed by any member of the PNP will never be tolerated,” de Leon said.
Sinas said the incident was an “isolated case” and assured the victims’ family that the PNP “does not and will never condone any criminal act by any member of the PNP.”
“The PNP considers this as an isolated involvement of the person of PSSg [Nuezca]. In no way will such incident affect the sworn duty of the 221,000 police personnel to serve and protect our people,” the PNP chief stated.
Sinas said Nuezca had been charged with five separate cases before the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS) since 2014, but all of the cases, including two homicide cases, were dismissed.
“All of them were dismissed except for a case in 2016 for a less grave offense when he was suspended for 31 days,” Sinas said, adding the latest case would be investigated by the IAS.
The PNP chief condoled with the family members of the victims and offered assistance to them.
“Again, let me express my sincere condolences to the family of the victims, and I am extending to them any form of assistance within my power as chief PNP to appease their emotions in this unexpected time of grief,” he said.
Justice Secretary Guevarra for his part said, “I am disturbed that altercations like that in the subject incident could suddenly lead to deaths of persons. As soon as the local police has filed the appropriate charges, the prosecutor’s office will conduct a preliminary investigation to determine probable cause,” Guevarra said.
“The DOJ will closely monitor developments in this case and ensure that justice is done,” he added.
‘No ifs, no buts’
Malacañang on Monday announced it will hold accountable the police, who shot dead a mother and her son in Tarlac during the weekend.
In an online press briefing, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque condemned the incident and assured it will not be tolerated by President Duterte.
“The police cannot invoke any defense [that his actions were] related to his duty [as a policeman]. The killing will be considered a murder case, which will be investigated, charged and tried [in court] and the police will be sanctioned. No ifs, no buts,” Roque said.
“He will not be protected by the President. We condemn such act,” he added.
Emboldening policy
The President earlier assured he will protect the police from any reprisal on their activities related in the government’s war against illegal drugs.
Many human-rights advocates, including the labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), have criticized the said policy for allegedly emboldening the police from committing atrocities such as extrajudicial killings.
“The brazen murder, committed in broad daylight, demonstrates the degree in which impunity has been emboldened in Duterte’s Philippines. We cannot consider the incident as an ‘isolated event’ when so many cases of police brutality, murder, and complicity had been recorded before, and especially during the Duterte administration,” Sentro said in a news statement.
Uncalled for
Since the incident is not “service-related,” Roque said the police involved will not get any protection from the administration.
“The President have repeatedly said that the use of force [by the police] is only if the life of the police is threatened. So the wrong act will not be tolerated by the President,” Roque said.
Church leaders condemned the incident and have urged the administration to hold Nuezca accountable.
Oscar Florencio of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines lamented the shooting, which he said is uncalled for amid the Christmas season.
This was echoed by Fr. Melvin Castro of the Diocese of Tarlac, who decried the violence and brutality of the action of Nuezca.
“We need also to investigate the incident and address the issue with fairness and justice,” Florencio said. With Ashley Manabat