MANILA (SE): Bishop Enrique Macaraeg of Tarlac, the Philippines, said after the shooting deaths of a mother and son by an off-duty policeman is just one of many that “have been happening around us,” CBCP News reported on December 22
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, according to PhilStar. A heated argument ensued and when Sonya Gregoria intervened, Nuezca opened fire.
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.
“Some of them happened without a video to record them,” Bishop Macaraeg said, adding, “Whether posted on social media or done hidden without a witness, killing is a sin.”
CBCP News reported the bishop as saying that murder is not only a sin against the victims and their families, “It is both a sin and a crime that cries out to heaven.”
Bishop Macaraeg said, “Our faith assures us that this cry will reach the ears of God. There is no escaping from the justice of God, even if sometimes justice on earth is hard to find.”
“That this murder happened during these holy days preparing for Christmas makes us bow in shame, guilt, and shock,” he added.
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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.
“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”
Father Danny Pilario
Father Jose Macarbo of the Diocese of Masbate called the killings “brutal” and “senseless” as the video footage showed the victims were unarmed.
“The force employed by the policeman was not commensurate to the act done by the mother. Provocation may have been 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.
Spokesperson for the Philippine National Police (PNP), Ildebrandi Usana, in an interview on TeleRadyo, assured the public that the PNP is already looking into Nuezca’s case, ABS-CBN reported.
The PNP is aggrieved in this incident, the agency he is supposed to represent. We will take action on this, and we will update the public on the action we have taken,” Usana said.
