Minority senators condemn Tarlac shooting incident: 'Impunity breeds trigger-happy cops'

Impunity encourages members of the state security force to commit abuses, minority senators said on Monday after a police officer shot to death an unarmed mother and son in Tarlac.

"So long as the culture of impunity exists in the country, and when there is a system that rewards misdeeds instead of punishing them, police abuses and violence will continue. Impunity breeds trigger-happy cops,” Senate Minority Franklin Drilon said in a statement.

Describing the suspect as a "devil who committed an evil act in front of his own daughter," the senator said the cop deserves a lifetime in jail.

Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, a cop assigned in Parañaque City, shot 52-year-old Sonya Rufino Gregorio and her 25-year-old son Frank Anthony Rufino Gregorio in the middle of a heated argument over "boga" and right of way on Sunday.

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan also condemned the incident, which he said was a result of the lax treatment given by the administration to erring police.

"Dahil walang parusa sa kapulisan o mga matataas na opisyal ng gobyerno na sangkot sa katiwalian o kaya inaabuso ang pwesto, tuloy-tuloy ang pang-aabuso ng mga ito," he said.

"Dagdag pa rito ang nangingibabaw na kultura ng dahas at patayan dahil sa pag-uudyok sa kapulisan na huwag matakot na pumatay," he added.

Pangilinan extended his condolences to the victims' family and vowed to keep an eye on the next step that the administration would take regarding the incident.

Senator Risa Hontiveros likewise expressed alarm over the "invincible" attitude of the cop who shot a mother and her son without blinking an eye.

The chairperson of the Senate committee on women and children, Hontiveros pointed out that the crime was committed by the cop in front of his daughter.

"It's time to remove this trick mirror that makes these police think they are all-powerful & untouchable. Nasa ilalim din sila ng batas. These rogues act like they are judge, jury, and executioner. They are not. Binabastos nila ang batas," she said on Twitter.

The senator vowed to take the matter up in the Senate in a bid to "restore the dignity of the law and the meaning of peace and order."

Senator Bong Revilla called for the re-imposition of the death penalty.

"This is one compelling case for the reinstitution of the death penalty," Revilla said in a statement.

"Hindi ka tao kung magagawa mong pumatay ng ganun lang, at sa harap pa mismo ng iyong anak. Tapos lalakad lang kayo palayo na parang walang nangyari," he added.

Nuezca turned himself in and is facing double murder charges. The Department of Justice vowed to closely monitor developments in the case and ensure that justice is done.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, meanwhile, described the incident as plain cold murder and an isolated case.

In the wake of the controversial death of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos who was killed by cops in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte said he never promised to protect law enforcement officers involved in abuses.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Duterte gave an instruction to the police and the military in April to shoot quarantine violators dead after residents of an urban poor community gathered on EDSA supposedly to wait for relief goods.

Año has clarified that there was a "qualifier" to the order of the President: "Sinabi naman 'pag lumaban at gumamit ng dahas and when your lives are in danger, shoot. 'Yun ang sinabi niya eh."—AOL, GMA News