PNP boots out killer cop Nuezca for grave misconduct
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 1:37 p.m.) — Killer cop Jonel Nuezca is no longer an officer of the law with the Philippine National Police.
This was confirmed to Philstar.com Monday by Police Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, PNP spokesperson, who said that Police Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, Metro Manila police chief, made the decision earlier that day to resolve the administrative case filed against Nuezca for grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
To recall, Nuezca was filmed in a now-viral video killing of a mother and her son in Paniqui, Tarlac earlier in December in the middle of a heated exchange over right of way.
"[The chief, PNP] has just announced it following the approval of [the regional director of the National Capital Region Police Office] on the dismissal from the service of Police [Staff Sergeant] Nuezca which is effective today," he said in a text message.
"He is now considered [an] ex-[staff sergeant], a civilian."
READ: Killer cop Nuezca pleads not guilty of murder he was filmed committing
Nuezca faces two murder cases at the Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 106 for which he has entered a plea of "not guilty."
His case sparked criticism of the culture of violence and impunity within the agency's ranks, though the PNP and administration officials maintain that it was an isolated incident.
Asked about Nuezca's "not guilty" plea, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing that the former police officer's guilt needs to be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
The video showing Nuezca using his service pistol to shoot 52-year-old Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank in the head circulated social media almost immediately after the killings.
At the time, Roque said that if any policy change is to come out of the killing, it should be on the part of the opposition, whose criticism, he said, has become repetitive.
"The only test for a police officer to use violence is if there is a threat to his life. It's the opposition who should probably recalibrate because they sound like broken records," the president's spokesman said then. — with a report from James Relativo
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