Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday said legislating reforms that would instil discipline among the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) seems to be a necessity to address the likes of Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca.
Gatchalian said that in analyzing the viral video showing how Nuezca shot his neighbor Sonya Gregorio and her 25-year old son in Paniqui, Tarlac, clearly shows that the PNP’s programs for disciplining its erring members is sorely lacking.
“We can legislate the process of disciplining the ranks of those in the PNP, and we can legislate additional budget to improve the process if need be,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
Gatchalian is one of the senators who authored Senate Resolution No. 600 which seeks an inquiry into the series of unlawful killings of private citizens, including doctors, lawyers, journalists and members of other professions with the goal of identifying gaps in law enforcement.
While the Senate is set to look into the circumstances of the series of unlawful killings in the country, the senator, likewise, said they intend to look whether appropriate actions were undertaken by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and other concerned law enforcement agencies.
“In the case of the Napolcom, the agency that conducts pre-charge investigation of police anomalies, irregularities and summary dismissal of erring police officers, we want to find out how it handled the cases against Nuezca, who has a checkered past,” he pointed out.
“Maybe we have to revisit their functions and procedure in exercising administrative control and supervision over the ranks of the PNP,” he said.
Being a law enforcer, the lawmaker said Nuezca should have exercised his profession in dealing with his neighbors and not resort to killing.
“Sabihin na natin na talagang nagkaroon ng komosyon doon pero hindi naman ganun ang kanyang trabaho. Ang kanyang trabaho ay ihinto ang gulo at arestuhin kung may lumabag sa batas (Let’s say there was really a commotion but that was not part of his job. His job is to stop the commotion and arrest those who violated the law),” he pointed out.
“Dapat pumunta siya doon para ayusin yung gulo at hindi mag-umpisa ng gulo lalo na ang mag-umpisa ng patayan (He should have gone there to fix the problem, not start the problem and most importantly, not start a killing),” he emphasized.
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