CEBU CITY, Philippines—Police officers here were reminded not to resort to violence and use their service firearms unless threats to their lives are present and imminent.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), made this reminder after a cop in Luzon is now in hot waters after shooting a mother and her son on Sunday, December 20, 2020.
Read: Cop shoots dead a mother and her son in Tarlac
“We have to keep reminding our police that as a general rule, we must only draw our weapons if our lives are endangered,” Parilla said.
Parilla also urged all police officers here to observe maximum tolerance in cases where confrontation arises.
“We should always bear in mind that we must respect every right of individuals,” he said.
Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca surrendered to authorities on Monday, December 21. He was seen in a video footage making rounds online, shooting a 52-year-old mother and her 25-year-old son point-blank in Paniqui, Tarlac on Sunday.
The victims were identified as Sonya Gregorio and Frank Anthony Gregorio. The Gregorios and the suspect were neighbors.
Lieutenant Colonel Noriel Rombaoa, chief of Paniqui Municipal Police Station, said the suspect and the victims had a confrontation prior to the crime and that they had been involved in a land dispute regarding right of way.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año has ordered a probe into the incident.
While condemning the act of Nuezca, Año, however, told the public that the ‘sin of a police man is not the sin of the entire Philippine National Police (PNP).
On Monday, actress Agot Isidro expressed her dismay on the incident by tagging the PNP as “Patay nang Patay” in a tweet.
Read: ‘Show no mercy’ to cop in Tarlac shooting, Lacson tells PNP
*SWIM*
In the meantime, here in Cebu City, Parilla encouraged their colleagues to regularly participate in a weekly webinar by the police called Squad Weekly Interactive Meeting or SWIM.
SWIM, according to Parilla, was initiated to help emotionally, mentally, and spiritually struggling police officers.
“In SWIM, police are assured that they have a safe space to discuss anything that bothers them spiritually and mentally, both in terms of their work and personal lives,” he explained.
As of December 21, the CCPO official said they have not recorded any incident similar to what happened in Tarlac.
Parilla, likewise, shared Año’s calls for the public not to make sweeping generalizations about the police force following the tragedy in Tarlac.
/bmjo