Huwag lahatin!
That was the cry of uniformed policemen, their families, and the head of DILG, Sec. Eduardo Año about the horrific double murder of Sonya Gregorio 52, and her son, Frank Anthony, 25, perpetrated by a police officer in Tarlac last Sunday.
The murderer, yes he is a murderer, is identified as police officer Jonel Nuezca who was goaded on by his 12-year old daughter to show everyone how we must be afraid, very afraid of a man in uniform. And indeed, the monster’s ego expanded and without flinching, shot both victims in close range and finished them off with a couple more shots as they lay dying.
Huwag lahatin!
This was the cry of the PNP that the sin of one is not the sin of all as the outrage against uniformed policemen grew upon seeing the video of the gruesome act that has been going viral.
Even NOPPO here through Police Lieutenant Abigael Donasco appealed to the public not to generalize the issue and not all members of the force are like Nuezca.
However, I was aghast when Donasco rationalized the act by saying it must have been possible that Nuezca “lost his self-control” which led to him using his issued firearm to commit such.
What! Oh well, he lost his self-control and that must have been why this monster was trigger-happy to murder a mother and son right in front of his daughter, who sadly, was also unflinching as she watched what her father has done.
Posts condemning the young girl have been going viral as well and it was understandable that some of the anger was directed to her, calling her a brat, to say the least as there are even more vicious name-calling against her.
But a young girl I know was on point when she posted this: “The daughter shouldn’t make you angry, she should make you sad. She didn’t even flinch at the carnage and violence she saw not two feet away from her. Imagine what a household could raise a kid like that. This is our world now, where children are numb to violence and people can wish death upon a child.”
Indeed it is sad to see children growing up like this girl. She was raised that way and I believe among the reasons as well is because of the sense of impunity our uniformed men in service have been relying on encouraged by their president.
This daughter was raised to believe her father was beyond reproach and was to be feared and she used that belief to put control over their neighbors, to egg on his father to show them what he is made of.
For the PNP to say they should not be tainted by one rotten egg is very pathetic because there have been numerous despicable acts committed by the police force all over the country under this administration.
Worse is to find out that Nuezca, based on a report from Central Luzon Police chief Brigadier General Valeriano de Leon, was actually charged of grave misconduct involving a homicide just last year but both cases were dropped for “lack of substantial evidence.”
A report in a local daily quoted Lt. Gen. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, PNP deputy chief for Operations who was in town the other day, that in cleansing their ranks, they’ve already dismissed some 4,500 cops from service and suspended 8,000 others.
Why they were not able to look into the case of Nuezca who has a slew of administrative cases against him behooves me.
Binag also said that they are looking into providing an anger management program for its personnel which to me sounds as an acknowledgment that indeed, they have trigger-happy members in their ranks. I remember the words “utok pulbura,” is how we call officers like Nuezca.
This incident also came at the heels of the order from Police Chief Debold Sinas that the police need not seal their firearms during this holiday season because they are now “disciplined.”
Disciplined my ass. Coming from Sinas whose mañanita celebration was brushed away as a non-issue by the leadership, the word discipline may have a different meaning.
Muzzling service-issued firearms have been customary for years until Duterte came into power. In a report from Rappler, in 2017, the president also allowed uniformed personnel to carry guns even during their day-off and recreation time so they can defend themselves from armed communists. Duh!
This Nuezca incident highlighted the stupidity of that order and no matter how defensive Malacañang is in saying they will not protect the monster cop, we all know that partly, Nuezca has been emboldened to commit such abuses because the very institution he belongs to and this administration has been enablers to the likes of him.
Huwag lahatin! That was their cry.
It is ironic how that cry has bit them back. This administration has been red-tagging activists and critics as terrorists. Many have cried back “huwag lahatin” as well yet this fell on deaf ears.
It’s now time to ask the PNP, who are the real terrorists?*