Philippine Cop Gets Life Sentence for Killing Neighbors During Argument

A Philippine court sentenced a police officer to life in prison on Thursday for shooting dead two neighbors during a heated argument last December.

The double-homicide put a spotlight back on extrajudicial deaths in the Philippines, where human rights groups have criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s government for thousands of killings by police in the nation’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

The Tarlac Regional Trial Court convicted the defendant, Jonel Nuezca, of two counts of murder for killing Sonia Gregoria, 52, and her son, Frank Anthony, 25. The incident shocked Filipinos after a video of the brazen shooting went viral on social media. Nuezca was off duty when he gunned down his two neighbors during the daytime.

“[A] ‘shoot first, think later’ disposition occupies no decent place in a civilized society. Never has homicide or murder been a function of law enforcement. The public peace is never predicated on the cost of human life,” Judge Stella Marie Gandia-Asuncion said in her 18-page decision.

“[J]udgment is hereby rendered finding the accused Jonel Nuezca y Mostales guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder (two counts).”

The court also ordered Nuezca to pay nearly a million Philippines pesos (U.S. $20,000) to the heirs of the victims.

The judge noted that the victims did not know “during the span of commotion and altercation that the accused [had] a gun.”

The attack was “so swift and sudden that the victims were not able to defend themselves. The shots fired were made in quick succession,” Gandia-Asuncion said in the ruling.

Nuezca shot the mother and son dead after a heated argument with them on Dec. 20 in Paniqui, a town in northern Tarlac province, according to details provided in court.

The officer had confronted the duo about their use of the “boga” – a PVC pipe that is typically used to make a loud noise during the Christmas holidays here, police said.

The conversation turned into an argument over a long simmering property dispute. Nuezca’s young daughter could also be heard shouting at their neighbors.

Nuezca drew his handgun – a 9-mm Beretta pistol – and shot mother and son in the head, the police said.

He walked away from the crime scene but surrendered to the authorities later in the day.

The crime was filmed on a mobile phone and later uploaded on Facebook by a witness.

In June, a Filipino police officer in plain clothes was filmed shooting a 52-year-old woman in the head over an argument. That officer has been fired and is in jail.

And in November 2018, three policemen were convicted for the murder of a 17-year-old boy incorrectly identified as a drug pusher.

The Philippines has seen its share of near-daily killings tied to the Duterte administration’s violent drug war. Police figures put the number of suspected dealer and addicts slain at 8,000 so far.

Rights groups claim that hundreds more have been killed, including those slain by pro-government vigilantes.

For his part, Duterte has vowed to continue with his war on narcotics despite the wrongful deaths. He has said these killings could have been carried out by rival drug gangs who want to make it appear that vigilantes were to blame.

Jeoffrey Maitem in Cotabato City, Philippines, contributed to this report.