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Manila, Philippines – The two homicide cases involving Police Sergeant Major Jonel Nuezca stemmed from his participation in alleged shootings in buy-raid operations in 2016 and 2018 in which three drug suspects died. Nuezca, who was caught on video shooting dead a woman and her son, her neighbors in Paniqui, Tarlac, on December 20, is now being detained at the town’s police station.
After the shooting, he was reassigned by the Philippine National Police from the Parañaque City Police Office, where he had been serving, to a unit tasked with monitoring officers with pending cases.
In an interview earlier this week, Inspector General Alfegar Triambulo of the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS) told the Inquirer that in the 2016 and 2018 cases, Nuezca was just a member of a police team, and his real role in fatal shootings. it was not established.
Triambulo cited IAS records from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) showing that in the 2016 incident, Nuezca was among 10 officers who conducted a buy-raid operation along the extension. from the C-5 highway in San Dionisio, city of Parañaque.
“There were two suspects and there was a short chase and the ensuing shooting that resulted in the deaths of the suspects,” he said.
Support for
Triambulo said the homicide case brought against Nuezca was dismissed because it served only as a backup for the main task force and was not near the site of the shooting. In the 2018 case, Nuezca was one of three members of the local station’s drug control unit that carried out a buy and sell operation against a lone suspect.
“The suspect felt he was dealing with undercover police officers and allegedly engaged the three police officers in a shootout,” Triambulo said.
“The NCRPO-IAS could not determine who of the three policemen was responsible for the suspect’s death,” he added.
Summary dismissal
The administrative cases against Nuezca for serious misconduct of the two homicides were dismissed for lack of evidence on May 9, 2019 for the 2016 case and on December 29, 2019 for the 2018 case.
“In fact, I ordered the NCRPO-IAS to immediately forward the files of the two homicides to me so that I could complete the file on the Nuezca case,” Triambulo said. Nuezca faces summary dismissal for killing neighbors Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank, 25, in a violent dispute over the discharge of an improvised cannon. He also had a long-standing dispute with the Gregories over the right of way on their adjacent properties.
Police Brig. PNP spokesman Gen. Ildebrandi Usana said that Nuezca was reassigned to the NCRPO office of the regional personnel and records management division / regional personnel accounting and retention service two days after the shooting. The unit is responsible for closely monitoring most police officers with pending administrative or criminal cases.
Service record
Usana said that Nuezca began serving with the Pateros city police and then as a member of the base police at the South Police District (SPD) headquarters in Taguig city in 2004.
He was assigned to the NCRPO office of the regional support training unit prior to his transfer to the SPD.
Nuezca was a member of the Taguig city police from 2007 until September 2018, when he was assigned to the city of Parañaque. Usana said that Nuezca is originally from Pangasinan and his wife is from Paniqui, Tarlac. He noted that Nuezca was likely running as a rookie with the NCRPO 16 or 17 years ago, which would explain his assignment south of Metro Manila.
Anguish and pain
On Christmas Day, the PNP assured the Gregorio family that the case of double homicide (or two counts of homicide) against Nuezca was being advanced after officials obtained the raw images of the video of the shooting, that the general director of the PNP, Debold Sinas said it was a vital test.
The video was posted on social media shortly after the murder, went viral and prompted widespread condemnation of police impunity. Anguish and pain still weighed on the other members of the family.
The attack has traumatized Sonya’s other children, said Mark Christian, 29, her oldest son. “My younger sister asked me to come home. He was crying when he told me that our mother and [Frank Anthony] they were shot dead, ”said Mark Christian. “She was in the house and saw how they killed our mother. She still jumps in fear every time she hears a high-pitched sound, ”he said.
Sonya’s husband Florentino said his youngest son used to wake up to whispers in the middle of the night.
Sinas said the 12- and 16-year-old witnesses who took the video had submitted their affidavits.
Their guardians allowed them to testify and they would be subjected to the government’s witness protection program. –WITH A REPORT FROM MARIA ADELAIDA CALAYAG INQ
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