I got to know Police Chief Inspector Alexander Nuñez while I was working as a lawyer for the Children’s Legal Bureau, Inc. and he was the police chief of Cordova, Cebu, where our investigators were tracking some foreigners involved in the trafficking of children. He struck me as a no-nonsense, professional police official, and according to our investigators he personally went with the group in some of the surveillance soirees.
We maintained contact through the years, and my listeners in my radio programs were amazed with the quick actions by the Cordova police in suspected criminal activity in Cordova – it helped that I had direct access to him, and he would invariably text me back, “We are already working on that, Sir” or “This is new information to me, will get back to you after a week” and later he would text me that the info was bum or it was validated.
Early this year, I was assaulted by a drug addict, which resulted in my transfer from Mandaue City to Lapulapu City. He was the police official who helped me gain personal confidence in my security again, by utilizing his network to bring home to my attacker the idea that I should not be bothered again. (Don’t worry, no physical injuries were inflicted to that attacker, he was just verbally reminded that I was not to be bothered.)
I could state upon my honor that he was not corrupt. You know why? Because he always tried to sell me his Usana products, and if a police official receives money from criminal groups, why would he take time to introduce to his friends and associates his MLM business?
It is heartbreaking to know that he died in line of duty on Christmas Eve, of all days! But his professionalism would always be remembered by those who know him. PCI Alexander Nuñez, you may have left us, but your memory would always be remembered by those you had helped. You embodied what the Filipino nation prays for its police force: professional and competent, a force which serves and protects, to death if it need be.
(PCI Nuñez is survived by his wife who is also with the PNP and their two minor children aged 5 and 3 years old.)