Killer cop dismissed from service

MANILA, Philippines — Police M/Sgt. Jonel Nuezca who was filmed shooting dead his two neighbors in Paniqui, Tarlac has been booted out from the Philippine National Police.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas said apart from the dismissal, Nuezca was also administratively charged with two counts of grave misconduct and two counts of conduct unbecoming of a police officer.

“The dismissal was already implemented by the regional director of NCRPO, Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr.,” Sinas told reporters yesterday, referring to the National Capital Region Police Office.

“That already completes the cycle of investigation on ex S/Sgt. Jonel Nuezca,” who was assigned at the Parañaque police station.

The Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the PNP confirmed the other day that it had recommended Nuezca’s dismissal. Now that the recommendation has been enforced, Nuezca has lost all his benefits and is also barred from holding other posts in government.

Nuezca, who is incarcerated in a jail facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Paniqui, was seen in videos taken on Dec. 20 confronting his neighbors Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank, 25, that ended when the officer, in plainclothes, shot the pair point-blank in broad daylight and in front of a crowd of witnesses, including Nuezca’s daughter who had also been filming the altercation.

He had been charged with two counts of murder before a Tarlac court, to which he pleaded not guilty last week. His next hearing is set on Feb. 4.

Asked for his reaction to Nuezca’s not guilty plea, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: “Well, his guilt should be established beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Domingo Egon Cayosa issued a statement commending the PNP’s IAS for its speedy assessment on the case filed against Nuezca, 45, and for recommending his dismissal from the service.

“The swift action of the Internal Affairs Service of the Philippine National Police on the administrative case of Master Sergeant Nuezca by recommending his dismissal from the service for shooting his neighbors Sonya and Frank Anthony Gregorio is welcome and commendable,” said Cayosa.

The IBP is also looking forward to the court decision on the criminal case lodged against Nuezca, apart from his dismissal from the PNP.

“We also look forward to the timely resolution of the criminal case pending before the regional trial court. More than the severity of the penalty, certainty and promptness of punishment are tested antidotes to criminality,” Cayosa said. – Alexis Romero, Evelyn Macairan