Violent Parenting

 

                                   (image: youtube.com)

Kay uman kun pulis an tatay mo? This can be puzzling. Did she mean that the father must be respected because he is an “authority”? Or is this line related to bad parenting when her idea of respect is only limited to those people with “titles” and the rest of humanity does not deserve respect. In the first place, who displaced disrespect first?

Neil Jayson Servallos of the Philippine Star reported: An off-duty policeman shot dead at point-blank range his elderly female neighbor and her son after an altercation in Paniqui, Tarlac on Sunday (Dec. 20, 2020) afternoon. Police Staff Sgt. Jonel Nuezca, 46, of the Parañaque City Crime Laboratory, later surrendered to the police station in nearby Rosales, Pangasinan after he shot twice in the head Sonya Rufino Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank Anthony, 25. The shooting incident was caught on cell phone camera and has since gone viral on social media.

Another video taken during the incident also showed Nuezca’s daughter shouting that her father was a policeman, a few seconds before shots rang out. In the video, Nuezca shot the victims after the elder Gregorio taunted the suspect’s daughter.

People who saw the video online were horrified and castigated the dastardly act of the policeman. The blaming mutated into something which generalized the PNP as killers which can be unfair but people are emotional and these outbursts are expected to happen.

Gun violence, according to the American Psychological Association, is associated with a confluence of individual, family, school, peer, community, and socio-cultural risk factors that interact over time during childhood and adolescence. Although many youths desist in aggressive and antisocial behavior during late adolescence, others are disproportionately at risk for becoming involved in or otherwise affected by gun violence. The most consistent and powerful predictor of future violence is a history of violent behavior.

Prior to the shooting, Jonel Nuezca already had episodes of violence. Two of the cases against Nuezca were of grave misconduct involving homicide. One was dated May 9, 2019, and the other, December 29, 2019. Both cases were “dismissed for lack of substantial evidence,” JC Gotinga reported. In 2016, Nuezca was accused of serious neglect of duty when he allegedly failed to attend a court hearing as a prosecution witness in a case involving illegal drugs. Police involved in the apprehension of drug suspects are supposed to provide witness in court.

With this background, what can we expect of his parenting style? Yes. It is true that any child will be a victim of adult misdeeds and it is not fair to blame her. But what would become of her? Philnews.ph said that a witness said that after the attack the police father put his arm on the shoulder of his daughter or “akbay” and allegedly said, “Mission accomplished baby.” Then they went home and the suspect asked for his helmet from his wife and flew away.

Witnessing violence can lead children to develop an array of age-dependent negative effects. Research in this area has focused on the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional effects of domestic violence. Children who witness violence and children who are abused may display many similar psychological effects (aafp.org).

Some of the men in uniform, specifically the PNP are reacting on the smearing on their image. For them, this is a fallacy of generalization. But history tells a different story.  By late 2016, approximately 9,000 casualties, mostly from the poorest areas of urban Manila, had been ascribed to the war on drugs (Human Rights Watch 2017). In 2018, three Philippine policemen were found guilty of murdering a teenager during a drug sweep — the first conviction of officers in President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs. The victim was Kian delos Santos.

In January 2014, the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (CHR) exposed a secret detention facility in Laguna, a province south of the capital, Manila, in which police officers appeared to be torturing detainees for entertainment. The CHR found a large roulette wheel on which were written descriptions of various torture positions. If the wheel was spun and landed on “30 second bat position”, for example, this meant that the detainee would be hung upside down (like a bat) for 30 seconds. “20 second Manny Pacquiao” meant that a detainee would be punched non-stop for 20 seconds. The existence of such a device, apparently for police officers’ entertainment, clearly demonstrates the casual attitude towards torture within the police force.

Still, we adhere to the belief that there are policemen whose mind, heart and soul are dedicated to serve and protect the people.

But then, we go back to the daughter’s would-be psychological makeup. Children who witness violence or are victims of abuse themselves are at serious risk for long-term physical and mental health problems. Children who witness violence between parents may also be at greater risk of being violent in their future relationships, according to womensheath.gov.

The daughter of Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca will undergo counseling following the fatal shooting incident that she witnessed in Paniqui, Tarlac on Sunday (gmanetwork.com).

The fact that people are reacting on such violence presented on different media, it is still our individual roles to raise our voices against senseless killing, violence and bad parenting.