Tarlac shooting won’t trigger reforms in PNP, says spox

MANILA, Philippines — The shooting incident involving a policeman which led to the death of a mother and her son in Tarlac “will not even trigger any change at all” in the Philippine National Police (PNP), its spokesperson said Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana reiterated over ABS-CBN News Channel that the case involving Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, who shot to death 52-year-old Sonya Gregorio and her 25-year-old son Frank Anthony Gregorio in Paniqui town on Sunday, was an isolated case.

Usana said that the PNP has already initiated a lot of changes to improve the organization.

“In so far as the PNP that has been there for more than 100 years since the start of the police service organization, we have [done] enough of the heroic acts,” he said.

“I guess what Nuezca did is something that will not even trigger any change at all in the PNP because we have had many changes that have already been initiated, and this particular case actually will not make the PNP as if we are totally wrong because as I was saying, this is an isolated case,” he said.

“The murder criminal action has already been filed and the dismissal will already be forthcoming, and the PNP will have to move on from there,” he further said.

But in the latter part of the interview, Usana cited some factors in the incident that the PNP may look at.

“Internally, I guess if we are to look at what happened to Nuezca, we just have to probably think about how anger management is put into place. Second, how firearms will be properly used, when and when not to pull the trigger. The third in so far as the leadership perspective is concerned, we do have our dynamics in the organization,” he said.

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Usana noted that while the actions of Nuezca are “condemnable” and justice must be served for the family of the victims, the policeman does not represent the entire PNP.

“Sgt. Nuesca is not the PNP. What he did is condemnable. And justice must be served. The guy will be dismissed from the service, and he will be placed behind bars,” he said.

“But this Nuezca case shld not bring about changing the whole organization merely because of his actions. If any, we will revisit the procedures in the use of firearms and discuss anger mgmt,” he added.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas also earlier said that the police organization is looking at studying the anger management of its personnel following the fatal shooting of the two victims.

However, he also pointed out that the incident does not reflect the policies of the PNP which are aligned with its mandate to serve and protect the public.

Sinas said he had already directed the Internal Affairs Service of the PNP to ensure the quick resolution of the summary hearing case against Nuezca for his immediate dismissal from the police service.

On Monday, the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Tarlac upon inquest, found probable cause to indict Nuezca for two counts of murder over the incident.

EDV