Bato: Killer cop in Tarlac shooting deserves death penalty

The cop who killed his two unarmed neighbors in Paniqui, Tarlac deserves death penalty, Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said Wednesday.

"Yes, I believe in my heart, alam ko dapat death penalty ang parusa sa kaniya dahil very cold-blooded killing... I don't see any enough provocation on the part of the victims. Sobra-sobra ang ginawa niya," he said in an interview on ANC.

He also believes that the suspect, Police Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, was a drug user as he cited that the latter was suspended in 2014 for refusing to undergo a drug test.

"He was already charged for already evading drug testing so meaning adik 'yung tao na 'yun. Bakit ka umiiwas sa drug testing kung 'di ka adik?" Dela Rosa said.

"'Yung ganu'n na action, sigurado ako apektado sa drugs ang utak nu'ng tao na 'yun. Hindi man siya high that time, 'yung kaniyang decision-making apektado sa pagte-take ng droga," he added.

A former chief of the Philippine National Police, Dela Rosa has long been pushing for the reinstatement of capital punishment for high-level illegal drug traffickers.

But he said the versions filed by his colleagues in the Senate, which covers other heinous crimes, can be consolidated too.

On the heels of the Tarlac shooting incident, Dela Rosa said a provision that would include police officers who would engage in unlawful killings could be inserted in the death penalty bills, once a hearing is conducted.

The Senate committee on justice, however, has yet to call for a hearing to discuss these pending bills. Its chairperson Senator Richard Gordon is against death penalty, which was abolished in the country during the term of former Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006.

Dela Rosa, who led the Duterte administration's controversial war on drugs when he was PNP chief, said he does not believe there is a culture of impunity among the police force.

"Tell me, kung sino from the President down to the lowest level of command, sino bang nagsasabi na patayin, patayin, patayin 'yang mga ganiyan? Wala. You use your firearms if the situation calls for na kailangan gumamit ka ng armas," he said.

"Iba yun! Iba 'yung legitimate na drug operations, iba 'yung kay Nuezca... Personal niya 'yun. It's not a police operation," he added, claiming the critics are just taking advantage of the issue to drag the administration down.

On Sunday, Nuezca shot to death at close range his neighbors Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank Anthony after an altercation sparked by the explosion of "boga", a cannon made of PVC pipes used as noisemaker during New Year. The Gregorios and Nuezca had a prior disagreement regarding right of way.

Nuezca on Tuesday expressed remorse for the incident.

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Ang laking pagsisisi,” he said when interviewed at the Paniqui police detention cell. —KG, GMA News