Court documents are usually known for their dryness and sobriety in tone but in the case of dismissed cop Jonel Nuezca, it was different.
Copies of the ruling of the Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 106 to the former cop’s case show that the introductory parts were written akin to a feature entry or magazine post.
Nuezca was convicted of two counts of murder for killing a 52-year-old Sonia Gregorio and her 25-year-old son Frank Anthony Gregorio at point-blank range on Dec. 20, 2020.
The Tarlac court’s decision on the incident earned attention on social media after reporters posted copies of the ruling.
Its introductory parts, specifically the first paragraph, reads:
It is the most wonderful time of the year, for it is but five days before Christmas. Despite the pandemic, Filipinos, here and abroad, will still celebrate the Christmas, albeit with modifications. When all other parts of the country are abuzz and jubilant for merriment, gun shots were heard from a peaceful town. Bang! Bang! The sound of a caliber 9mm Pietro Beretta which took two lives in a split second. The gun was from a police officer. Yelling, screaming, and crying are defeaning. As if a scene in a motion picture, and the actors and actresses delivered their act the way the movie director wanted them to act. But, it was not. For there were no cuts and there were no take twos. Two bloodied bodies, one from a mother and the other, her son, fell on the ground. Lifeless. Breathless. The peaceful town became the hot potato.”
“Yung intro, lakas maka-RSPC feature writing contest,” a Twitter user wrote in response to the writing, referring to the Regional Schools Press Conference involving aspiring student journalists.
“First few sentences = my declamation pieces in grade school,” wrote another online user.
“When NSPC champions in the feature writing category get desk jobs,” quipped a different Twitter user. NSPC or National Schools Press Conference is also a journalism competition for students.
Another online user quipped that an “aspiring writer” must have taken the chance to practice his creative writing skills.
A different Twitter user thought that while it was “funny,” the ruling “seems terribly written” for a court document.
“As a writer, this is so disturbing to read. Sobrang misplaced ng creativity….. like…. can we just say that two people were shot dead by a ruthless killer without poetizing the scene? Masyadong mabulaklak at makapit sa burgis na panunulat,” another Filipino shared.
According to the court, the prosecution “was able to lucidly establish” that Nuezca had killed Sonia and Frank and that it was “attended by attendant circumstance of treachery as testified to by prosecution eyewitnesses.”
A court ruling is an official or authoritative decision, decree, statement or interpretation as by written a judge on a point of law.
The case
Nuezca was sentenced to reclusion perpertua or up to 40 years of imprisonment for each murder count.
The former law officer is also ordered to pay the heirs of Sonia the following: P100,000 for civil indemnity, P100,000 for exemplary damages, P126,280 as actual damages and P50,000 as temperate damages with interest rate of 6% per annum until the finality of decision until paid.
Nuezca is also expected to pay Frank’s heirs the same amount.
The dismissed cop last year was filmed confronting the victims who were using “boga” or improvised noisemaker popular in the holidays.
Nuezca went to their house to confront them about it and then confiscated the noisemaker. In the video, he was heard saying, “P**ang ina mo, gusto mo tapusin na kita ngayon?”
He then brought out his firearm and then shot the two in broad daylight. His young daughter and other onlookers witnessed it.
A witness said Nueza and the child had walked away from the scene “like it was nothing” after the killings occurred.
The case sparked concerns about police brutality and how many of such incidents could have happened without being filmed.
