Content warning: The article contains graphic descriptions of murder and violence.

THE MURDER of Sonya and Frank Gregorio in the hands of Police Corporal Jonel Nuezca has brought the Philippine National Police (PNP) onto the center stage of public discourse and outcry once again. Although the administration has also condemned the incident, officials continue to frame it as an isolated instance—much like the extra-judicial killings of Kian Delos Santos and Corporal Winston Ragos.

Inhumane acts by agents of the law continue to prevail, and President Rodrigo Duterte’s draconian shoot-to-kill statements lack any call for restraint and accountability. These leave very little incentive in pushing for better institutions that can serve and protect the Filipino people unfailingly.

Double murder

At around 5 PM on December 20, Police Corporal Jonel Nuezca visited the home of his neighbors, Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank. Nuezca’s visit was prompted by a nearby shot from a boga, an improvised cannon used for making noise during new year. This led to a heated argument between the three that ended when the mother exclaimed that she did not care whether Nuezca was a cop.

“Putangina mo, gusto mo tapusin kita ngayon, ha? (Do you want me to end you right now?)” Nuezca yelled back. He then shot the Gregorios in the head at point blank with his 9 millimeter service pistol. After the first two shots, Nuezca fired a second bullet at Frank as the latter fell, and pulled the trigger once more at Sonya who laid on the ground.

Following the murder, Nuezca fled the scene with his daughter on a motorcycle and surrendered at a police station an hour later. Having faced six service-related violations and charges in the past, Nuezca was later charged with two counts of murder by Tarlac City prosecutors. The video of the killings immediately went viral and has since prompted public indignation.

Although public officials have condemned the murders, figures such as Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año have called it an “isolated” incident. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also assured that Duterte will not protect Nuezca, but reiterated that the case will be treated as an ordinary murder case unrelated to Nuezca’s status as a police officer. 

Culture of impunity

Although Año claimed that the incident with Nuezca was an isolated case, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate disagreed. “The administration’s ‘kill, kill kill culture’ in the police and military enabled the worsening state of impunity in the country,” he said. Zarate further cited the arrest of Amanda Echanis with other activists, the beheading of a man in Baguio involving two police officers, and the murder of Ragos.

Adding to Zarate’s case on the worsening state of impunity in the country, other incidents of police brutality and non-compliance to investigative protocol have occurred in the past. For instance, Ragos was shot at a police checkpoint in front of bystanders despite being unarmed. The National Bureau of Investigation also found that the PNP had planted evidence at the scene, fueling suspicion in how the police handled the situation.

Aside from blatant acts of brutality similar to Ragos’ case, Saudi-bound Filipino worker Mark Anthony Culata’s death in September 2016 also points to possible grievances against Philippine law enforcement. After four suspected police officers were relieved from their posts, the case was brought to the Senate. The session then discovered that not only were the police officers reassigned to another section, the ballistics test results also remain unreleased.

Delos Santos’ case also points to the worsening state of impunity in the country, where three police officers were found guilty of the 17-year-old’s murder. Condemning the unnecessary use of violence, Presiding Judge Rodolfo Azucena concluded his verdict with the statement, “A ‘shoot first, think later’ attitude can never be countenanced in a civilized society.”

While officials continue to assert that not all policemen are like Nuezca, such violent cops continue to remain within the PNP. As the case against Nuezca develops, a continued and concerted demand for accountability is necessary to ensure that justice prevails.

For as long as the PNP fields violent servicemen with guns within its ranks, Filipinos will remain uneasy to entrust their security to an institution that suffers from episodes of deadly and “isolated” cases. In a time when extrajudicial killings have only worsened during the lockdown, the PNP has yet to completely embody its mandate to serve and protect its citizenry.