Comparing himself to Jonel Nuezca, the disgraced policeman who shot dead in December an unarmed mother and his son, Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan swore for all of Facebook to see in late 2020 that unlike him, he is a good cop who belongs to the "vast majority" of the Philippine National Police.
Five months later, he would revive a social media trend, having committed a similar crime as the fellow he once dismissed as only one of the few bad apples in the 200,000-strong police force.
The hashtag, #PulisAngTerrorista, has been tweeted over 50,000 times (as of noon of June 1) to protest not just against the proud cop whose crime, like Nuezca, was captured in a viral video. It goes against the entire police institution whose record of violence against the innocent runs counter to its promise of service and protection.
Zinampan on Monday shot dead a woman in Quezon City. He earlier denied a hand in her death until he was confronted by the footage that showed him approaching victim Lilibeth Valdez, who was outside her home in Barangay Greater Fairview.
Zinampan drew a firearm from his bag, walked closer to Valdez, pulled her hair, and shot her, Beverly Luceño, her daughter, told GMA News.
In defense of his institution, then a target of scrutiny by a general public who could not help but point out that Nuezca's case was not isolated, Zinampan had said in late December that "the sin of Nuezca is not the sin of the entire PNP."
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"While there are unfortunate incidents like this, the vast majority of PNP perform their sworn duties everyday with honor and integrity to protect and serve the people," Zinampan then said in his Facebook post that is now circulating on social media.
Much like how it was during the Paniqui shootings, Filipinos on the internet are once again raising: "Who do you call when the police murders?," a viral tweet said.
On Tuesday, PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said Zinampan would be dismissed and charged with murder."Karumal-dumal at hindi katanggap-tanggap ito dahil pulis dapat ang nagpo-protekta sa ating mga kababayan, at hindi ang nag-a-astang kriminal laban sa kanila,” said Eleazar, who promised to make "internal cleansing" his personal crusade as head of the police force.
