MANILA (UCAN): Catholic priests in the Philippines condemned the killing of a mother and her son by a policeman in a shooting that was caught on video and went viral.
Police senior master sergeant, Jonel Nuezca, shot and killed his neighbours, 52-year-old Sonya Gregoria, and her 25-year-old son Frank Gregoria, in Paniqui, Tarlac, north of Manila, on December 20.
Nuezca had tried to arrest the younger Gregoria for firing a boga, a noisemaker usually made of PVC pipe or bamboo and used on festive occasions. A heated argument ensued and Nuezca opened fire when Sonya Gregoria intervened.
Footage of the shooting taken by another neighbour and shared on social media showed the off-duty policeman shooting Sonya Gregoria while she was on the ground and then walking off with his daughter.
The policeman reportedly said “Son of a bitch, you want me to finish you off now?” before killing the victims.
Nuezca surrendered at the Rosales Pangasinan Municipal Police Station an hour later the shootings and has been charged with two counts of murder. He is in custody with no bail recommended.
ABS-CBN News reported that the provincial prosecutor of Tarlac found probable cause to indict Nuezca on two counts of murder.
“That this murder happened during these holy days preparing for Christmas makes us bow in shame, guilt, and shock,” Bishop Enrique Macaraeg of Tarlac, said.
Father Jose Macarbo of the Diocese of Masbate called the killings “brutal” and “senseless” as the video footage showed the victims were unarmed.
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“The force employed by the policeman was not commensurate to the act done by the mother. Provocation may be present but it did not justify the use of arms,” Father Macarbo said as he called for swift justice for the victims.
Vincentian Father Danny Pilario also condemned the incident, saying it was a result of a climate of impunity stemming from the government’s demonising of anyone who stands in its way.
“In the Philippines, this present government consistently demonises and effectively eliminates those who are different and the voices of dissent which threaten its mono-logic power,” he said.
“There has been a blanket authority from the start. There is no better way to operationalise impunity which has now become the rule of the day,” Father Pilario said alluding to Duterte telling police officers that he would have their backs in his war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of deaths since he came to power in 2016. “I’ll take care of you,” the president is reported to have told them..
Duterte’s assurance has given courage to policemen who have abused their authority without fear of accountability, he said.
“This can embolden any trigger-happy policeman or their assets to just shoot any time. This does not just happen now. It has been happening in the last four years,” Father Pilario said.
