LIST

Incidents of alleged police abuse, killings in 2020

The killing of a woman and her son by a policeman in Tarlac province over the weekend has sparked calls for an end to police brutality and killings by the police.

Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank Gregorio, 25, were shot dead by their neighbor Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, 46, in Paniqui, Tarlac over an altercation sparked by an explosion of a PVC cannon or “boga.”

In the video which circulated on social media, Sonya can be seen hugging her son Frank in an attempt to stop him from facing Nuezca. However, Nuezca then draws his gun and shoots the victims twice each in the head. Nuezca’s daughter, a minor, is also seen in the video witnessing the killing.

Nuezca later surrendered in Rosales, Pangasinan.

The hashtags #StopTheKillingsPH, #JusticeforSonyaGregorio, #EndPoliceBrutality and #PULISANGTERORISTA were among the top Philippine Twitter trends on Monday.

Nuezca, who is assigned to the Parañaque City crime laboratory, faced grave misconduct (homicide) cases in May and December 2019. Both charges, however, were dismissed due to lack of substantial evidence.

PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas has insisted that the case is an "isolated" incident. However, it is the latest in a series of alleged and confirmed police overreach, abuse, and brutality in recent months.

Here are some controversial incidents involving the police—both during the conduct of their job and outside it—this year:

March 31: Two policemen in Marikina City were arrested for allegedly raping two inmates.

April 1: Residents of Sitio San Roque in Quezon City were arrested after they formed a barricade in the street. They said that they had not received any assistance from their local government, the city government, or the national government amid the COVID-19 threat, and that the police barred them as they were going to present their IDs to the barangay.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan decried the arrest of citizens who, the group said, were going hungry. 

April 20: A group of armed police officers entered the compound of a private high-end condominium in Taguig City on Sunday afternoon and threatened to arrest residents for allegedly violating quarantine. Residents said there was no mass gathering, just some residents walking in the garden, and that the policemen were "waving guns in front of small kids and shouting."

Building management said that it was mulling charges against the police, while Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar said the police are ready to face charges over the incident.  

April 22: Police officers shot dead retired soldier Winston Ragos for violating quarantine protocols in Quezon City.

The victim's family said that he was unarmed, while the police officer who shot him claimed that he drew a gun.

The National Bureau of Investigation concluded that the incident was murder and that the police officers even planted the evidence on the victim.

May 1: The police arrested 10 volunteers who were conducting a feeding program in Marikina City on Labor Day.

The police claimed that the 10 were "holding a lightning rally" because they were carrying placards calling for mass testing.

Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro on Friday urged their release, saying that the police overreacted and that the volunteers were exercising their right to free expression.

May 12: A teacher was arrested without a warrant in Zambales and was brought to Manila for inquest over a tweet in which he offered a supposed P50-million reward to anyone who could kill President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Department of Justice later said that the warrantless arrest was "with defect," but "cured" by the teacher's admission to the media that he had posted the "provocative text."

May 13: Police in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte tracked down and arrested a salesman for making an allegedly "libelous" comment about Duterte and his aide Senator Bong Go on Facebook. 

June 2: Six PISTON drivers, including a senior citizen, were arrested in Caloocan City for allegedly violating the city ordinance on social distancing, the ban on any forms of mass gathering amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and resistance of and disobedience to a person in authority. The jeepney drivers, who were appealing that jeepneys should be allowed to resume operations amid the general community quarantine,  were later released after posting bail.

June 26: LGBT marchers who were wearing face masks and observing social distancing as they marched along Mendiola in Manila were arrested by police for allegedly violating safety protocols.

According to reports, tension started between the police and the rallyists after a cop grabbed one of the protesters from behind as he was asking them to let the speakers finish. Prosecutors later ordered the release of the protesters.

June 29: Policemen shot dead four soldiers in Jolo, Sulu, in what was initially termed a "misencounter" between the two forces.

Then-Philippine Army chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay—now General and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces—condemned the shootings as "murder."

July 5: Two police officers in Ilocos Sur were charged with the murder of a 15-year-old girl who earlier filed an acts of lasciviousness complaint against one of the suspects.

July 19: A family in Taguig accused Sinas—then chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO)—of harassment after he and a "battalion" of police arrived at their home and, the family said, started to dismantle their gate. The family was accused of illegally occupying police property.

The family claimed that they were trying to hold a peaceful dialogue with the police and show them documents but that the police kept shouting at them. A police officer was also seen on video apparently trying to snatch the phone of one of the family members.

Then-PNP chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa said that the PNP would investigate how the attempted eviction was carried out.

August 10: The widow of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Randall Echanis accused the police of "snatching" his remains from the funeral parlor.

Echanis was reported killed in Quezon City on August 10. Former Anakpawis representative Ariel Casilao said Echanis was undergoing medical treatment and unarmed when "police forces" raided his house.

The DOJ ordered the police to explain why they moved Echanis' remains.

September 28: The chief of the Kawit Municipal Police Station and four other police officers were relieved from their respective posts after allegedly being involved in the conduct of an illegal and violent arrest in Cavite on September 25.

October 8: A police officer arrested a Grab driver after she asked him to move his vehicle, which was supposedly blocking a pick-up area in a commercial establishment in Taguig City. Police claimed that she had hit the officer, but she said that she did so after he pushed her with his car door.

October 9: The PNP confirmed that custodial unit chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Jogger Noceda was sacked and slapped with a criminal complaint for allegedly sexually assaulting former Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog, who is detained at the Camp Crame Custodial Center on drug charges.

October 16: Several police officers and jail personnel surrounded detained urban poor organizer Reina Mae Nasino during her baby daughter's funeral, and according to supporters disregarded the priest's request that she be released from her handcuffs so that she could embrace the coffin. 

Nasino's supporters also accused the police of wanting to "hijack" the funeral, and that the funeral car sped up, leaving walking family members behind. The heavy police presence at the funeral was criticized as an example of how differently someone like Nasino was treated from prominent public officials during their own furloughs.

October 17: Ten individuals in civilian clothes who introduced themselves as agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency “barged into” the home of Milagros Alora to arrest her son Victor Emmanuel for alleged drug pushing. The alleged agents did not have any warrant of arrest nor did they have a search warrant.

November 20: A man died while another was hurt after a policeman allegedly shot them in Tondo, Manila. Police investigation showed that the cop, Patrolman Alvin Santos, was drunk and shot them multiple times. Santos fled but left his firearm behind.

November 26: Criminal complaints were filed against nine suspects, including a police officer, in the killing of Palawan lawyer Eric Jay Magcami.

November 30: NDFP peace consultants Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio were killed in Angono, Rizal, allegedly during a firefight with the police. The NDFP pointed out that the couple were both 69 and suffering from various ailments. "In their physical condition, they could not have handled the many weapons found on the scene, much less engaged in a firefight," the organization said.

Sinas said that the PNP is open to any investigation into the couple's killing.

December 2: Slain NDFP peace consultant and Anakpawis chairman Randy Echanis's daughter Amanda Echanis, was arrested in Barangay Carupian in Baggao, Cagayan and was charged with illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives. Anakpawis "vehemently denounced" the arrest, saying that Amanda was arrested on planted evidence.

There have also been calls for the release of the younger Echanis, who has her baby son with her.

An 'enabling environment' for police violence

Nuezca's brutal shooting of Sonya and Frank Gregorio has led to the condemnation of police brutality and perceived impunity under the Duterte administration.

Six senators have sought a legislative investigation into the series of killings in the country,  including killings by the police mentioned above.

Senator Nancy Binay said that the PNP needs a thorough "values reorientation."

"May ninja cops, mañanita cops, ex-cop na land grabber at illegal logger, berdugong pulis—buong taon may nakakahiyang headline tungkol sa pulis. Ano na ba ang ginagawa ng liderato tungkol dito? The people expect the police to be their defenders, not their offenders," she said. 

"Mañanita cops" is a reference to Sinas, who allowed a birthday party to continue in his honor during lockdown, when mass gatherings are prohibited. He has not faced any sanctions from the incident.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the killing of the Gregorios as evidence that many in the police force are "out of control" due to impunity, citing that Duterte has excused police misconduct and vowed to let them off the hook many times.

The killing “took place in the context of an enabling environment for police violence that President Duterte himself has encouraged,” said HRW deputy director in Asia Phil Robertson.

Senator Leila De Lima also pointed to Duterte's rhetoric as adding to the culture of impunity.

"This is another incident that desensitizes the public towards violence and cruelty, a proof that authorities can go overboard with abuse of power, especially when you give them a license to ‘kill, kill, kill,’" she said in a statement.

“Dahil sa mga berdugong pahayag at paghimok ni Duterte na pumatay, kahit sa pinakamaliit na dahilan, pumapatay na ang mga pulis!” she added.

In a separate statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called for an end to police brutality and abuse, saying this must start with Duterte telling the police to stop the killings.

“Impunity is when the police think they can do anything, including shoot unarmed civilians at point blank even while cameras and witnesses are present. It's when they show us how human life has very little value nowadays. Indeed human life has been cheapened under Duterte's war on drugs and war on its critics,” it said.

“It must start with the President not condoning the killings, the planting of evidence, the filing of trumped-up cases and the official cover-ups. Without such action, the President is very much complicit, in fact he is the main driving force, in these abuses. And he too will be made accountable,” Bayan added. — BM, GMA News