Cop who killed unarmed neighbors over ‘boga’ faces double murder

The suspect, identified as Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, shot Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank, 25 on Sunday evening during a dispute between the Gregorios and Nuezca while he was arresting Frank. (Photo: Paniqui Municipal Police)

A Parañaque-based police officer surrendered to the police after shooting an unarmed mother and son dead in Tarlac over an altercation shown in a viral video circulating social media on Monday.

The suspect, identified as Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, shot Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank, 25 on Sunday evening during a dispute between the Gregorios and Nuezca while he was arresting Frank.

On Sunday evening, Nuezca reportedly went to Gregorio’s residence to investigate who was shooting boga, an improvised pvc cannon made from bamboo and used as a noisemaker during New Year celebrations.

However, the supposed investigation led to a heated argument ending with Nuezca shooting the mother and son point-blank using a 9 mm firearm.

“Nung aarestuhin niya, nakialam daw po ‘yung magulang, ‘yung nanay niya na si Sonya, na naging biktima po hanggang nabaril na nga po ‘yung mag-ina (When he was going to be arrested, Sonya, the mother, intervened which ended with her becoming a victim of the shooting as well),” Police Colonel Renante Cabico, director of the Tarlac Provincial Police Office elaborated in an interview with DZBB.

The video also showed Nuezca’s daughter who was present at the scene when he shot the victims. His daughter was seen filming the arrest and shouted at Sonya, “Shut up! My father is a policeman!”, which prompted Sonya to reply “I don’t care” in a sing-song voice.

“P*tang ina mo gusto mo tapusin kita ngayon ah? (Son of a b*tch, you want me to finish you off now?)” Nuezca said to Sonya before shooting her and Frank up close.

The police reported that Nuezca fled the scene onboard a motorcycle. However, the video showing the suspect’s face quickly became viral on social media which prompted the police to launch a hot pursuit.

Nuezca surrendered to the Rosales Municipal Police Station (MPS) in Pangasinan on the same day an hour after the incident.

Nuezca was also reported to be off-duty when the shooting incident occurred.

Past Homicide cases

The past administrative cases of the police officer involved in the cold-blooded murder of the mother and son in Tarlac came to light as further investigations occured.

Nuezca, who is now facing double murder charges, was filed with two separate grave misconduct for homicide cases in May and December 2019, according to the document obtained by ABS-CBN News. However, both cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

The cop also faced other charges such as serious neglect of duty by failing to attend a court hearing as witness to a drug case in 2016 and refusing to undergo a drug testing in 2014.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) claimed that the incident is an ‘isolated case’ and that the police force do not condone the criminal act of their officers.

“The PNP considers this as an isolated involvement of the person of PSSg. In no way will such an incident affect the sworn duty of the 221,000 police personnel to serve and protect our people,” PNP Chief Gen. Debold Sinas said in a statement, while expressing his condolences to the victim’s family.

“This time, the evidence is very strong against him that is why he was already under our custody and will be charged,”  Sinas said.

Senators have also condemned the killings and blamed the “impunity” in the system that breeds “trigger-happy” cops.

“So long as the culture of impunity exists in the country, and when there is a system that rewards misdeeds instead of punishing them, police abuses and violence will continue,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said in a statement.

#StopTheKillingsPH

As the video of the mother and son’s slay by the police officer spread like wildfire in different social media platforms, celebrities, officials, and netizens poured their outrage with the incident by trending #StopTheKillingsPH, #EndPoliceBrutality, and #JusticeforSonyaGregorio.

Senator Risa Hontiveros called out the police officer who killed the victims, saying that the society is headed to nowhere if the authorities can feel invincible by murdering victims without being apprehended.

“It’s time to remove this trick mirror that makes these police think they are all-powerful and untouchable. Nasa ilalim din sila ng batas (They are also under the law),” she said in a tweet.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also called for justice for the victims.

“Ito ay isang blood murder. Kitang-kita sa video, hindi lumalaban ‘yong biktima. Hindi naman armado ang mag-ina. Talagang murder ito… We don’t need this kind of policeman. Napakasimpleng bagay lang ‘yan para gamitan mo ng armas… Walang justification para barilin mo in cold blood… (This is a blood murder. We can really see in the video that the victims did not fight back. They are not armed. It is just pure murder. We don’t need this kind of policeman. It was a very simple incident for someone to use violence. There is no justification for him to shoot them in cold blood), ” he said. 

“How inhumane can you be to take actual human lives like that so confidently for your own selfish reasons—IN FRONT OF YOUR OWN CHILD—LIKE IT’S NORMAL?” stated actress Janella Salvador in a tweet, quoting Nuezca’s daughter’s “my father is a policeman”

The Akbayan Partylist also released their outrage in a statement regarding the shooting incident of the Gregorios, and called for swift justice.

“This is no isolated incident. Since Mr. Rodrigo Duterte took power, there has been an institutionalized climate of impunity led by his killing machine without accountability to the rule of law,” said the Akbayan Partylist in a statement.

“We call on the public to reclaim the PNP institution from the hands of Mr. Duterte and his point blank killers. We begin this task by exacting accountability from Mr. Duterte himself,” they concluded.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque assured in a televised interview that the Palace will not protect the cop.

“Iimbestigahan, kakasuhan at lilitisin po natin ang pulis na iyan. No ifs, no buts. Magkakaroon po ng katarungan dahil kitang kita naman po natin ang ebidensya ng pangyayari. Hindi po iyan  po-protektahan ng Presidente. Kinokondena po natin iyan (The police officer will be investigated, will be filed cases, and will be tried. No ifs, no buts. Justice will be served because we can clearly see the evidence. The President will not protect him. We condemn the incident that happened),” Roque said.