"The PNP should not wait for another."
"The PNP should not wait for another."
In the wake of the cold-blooded murder of Sonya Gregorio and her son, Frank Anthony, by off-duty policeman Jonel Nuezca in Tarlac recently, we’ve been fed the official line that this should be no cause for concern or even outrage as this is an “isolated case.”
A variation of this theme is that the cop has since regretted what he did and feels genuine remorse after his arrest and detention, said no less than the country’s top cop, in what appears to be an attempt to mitigate the gravity of the crime amid calls for the cop to be meted the death penalty forthwith.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman also chimed in that the institution does not require thoroughgoing reforms as suggested by some quarters to get rid of what has been described as the “culture of impunity” as it is already undertaking the needed changes in the 210,000-strong organization tasked with enforcing the law.
We take strong exception to these official claims, along with the view aired by some netizens practically condoning the twin murders as forgivable or even forgettable as the cop only responded violently in the heat of the altercation with the victims.
We support the view of a lawmaker from the minority who has weighed on the issue in a forthright—and we might say, sober manner—and suggested a menu of options for the PNP and the national leadership ought to consider.
First of all, Agusan del Norte First District Rep. Lawrence Fortun said, the killing of the mother and her son is not an isolated case, as “there appears to be a constant recurrence of brutality” involving police officers.
“The ruthless crimes we have seen certain police officers commit are just too dreadful to forget and ignore as isolated cases. A problem can never be addressed without first recognizing it exists. These are not isolated cases,” the lawmaker, who is a lawyer, said.
He cited the need for a “thorough, systematic cleansing of police stations,” calling for a House investigation into the charges filed against police officers.
“We have decent members of the PNP and we cannot allow these criminal viruses in uniform to cause a pandemic in our police force,” he said.
According to the lawmaker, the House committees on justice and on public order and security could immediately launch a motu proprio investigation in aid of legislation “to scrutinize criminal and administrative complaints against police officers filed over the past 10 years…We are alarmed that many of these are casually dismissed for the usual reason of lack of evidence. This is very suspect.”
The committees, he added, “should include in their investigations a thorough and complete review of the personnel selection, screening, and disciplinary processes, as well as financial transaction of the National Police Commission, PNP Academy, Philippine Public Safety College, the PNP directorates, provincial offices and police districts.”
“We know that reform measures have been instituted in the PNP, but we cannot stop there in light of these recent horrifying brutality involving police officers,” he said.
Fortun called for “credible and complete third-party reviews of the police recruitment and selection processes, including a much more stringent psychiatric evaluation of every applicant and every current officer seeking promotion and transfer.”
“The rules governing placing any officer on floating status and disciplinary action must also be reviewed. We do not want the PNP to simply just wait for the dust to settle, for the public anger to wane, for the people to forget before quietly promoting and transferring police officers who have been the subject of disciplinary action,” he said.
Moreover, the probe of police crimes and misconduct must be transferred to the Department of Justice or under a new bureau or office “to ensure fairness and impartiality in these investigations.”
We have discussed the lawmaker’s views at length because we feel these are not just knee-jerk reactions to the dastardly double-murders but a comprehensive approach to a nagging problem—the culture of impunity—unfortunately encouraged by no less than the current Palace occupant who has on more than one occasion asked cops, when confronting suspected drug pushers, and “troublemakers” ignoring draconian quarantine protocols, among others, not to hesitate and “shoot them dead.”
We fully agree that the PNP leadership should acknowledge that the institution’s credibility as the main law enforcement arm of the government has been seriously dented by the action of one police officer whose track record, it turns out, leaves much to be desired. They should not wait for one more “isolated incident” to completely shatter to smithereens whatever remains of their tarnished reputation and exert all efforts to put the entire organization back on track in their mission to “serve and protect.”