A police investigator inspects the site where Superintendent Santiago Ylanan Rapiz, a resident of Bacolod City, was killed in a shootout with operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Counter Intelligence Task Force and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Nov. 5, 2018 in Dipolog City. PHOTO FROM POLICE REGIONAL OFFICE-9 PIO
BACOLOD City – The New People’s Army (NPA) has condemned the killing of Superintendent Santiago Ylanan Rapiz in a buy-bust operation in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte, calling on the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a swift investigation into the incident.
NPA Leonardo Panaligan Command spokesperson Ka JB Regalado said, based on their knowledge, Rapiz had not had any criminal record in Negros, and was not involved in the sale or use of illegal drugs.
Regalado said Rapiz was known to them as an athletic and soft-spoken police officer with a proven track record in the service.
The NPA believed Rapiz’s reassignment was manipulated by high-ranking police officials who have links to drug syndicates in Negros Occidental.
It similarly dismissed claims that Rapiz was a “narco cop” as tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte, further explaining that the slain police officer was “a thorn” to the side of Negros’ crime syndicates.
“Rapiz only became a part of the 13,000 victims of ‘Oplan Tokhang’ under the Duterte regime,” Regalado added.
On Monday evening, Rapiz was killed during a drug buy-bust operation conducted by the police’s Counter Intelligence Task Force (CITF) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) inside a school campus in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.
Rapiz, 54, was a resident Barangay Taculing in Bacolod City. He was one of seven police officers relieved and reassigned to Police Regional Office 9 for allegedly being “drug protectors” according to an affidavit by Berya drug group bagman Ricky Sereno.
Rapiz formerly held the position of police chief in Escalante City, Cadiz City, as well as being an ex-chief of Police Community Relation (PCR) in the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and Bacolod City Police Office.
Chief Inspector Joseph Ortega, Dipolog police head, said Rapiz was playing basketball in the gymnasium of Andres Bonifacio College in Barangay Miputak, Dipolog City when he went out to meet the “poseur-buyer” at 7:40 p.m. Monday.
However, after receiving P50,000 in marked money for the suspected “shabu,” Rapiz reportedly sensed the authorities and quickly ran to the side of the gym while firing his pistol.
Ortega said the CITF and PDEA operatives fired back, hitting Rapiz. The police officer was declared dead upon arriving at Dipolog’s Corazon Aquino Memorial Hospital.
https://www.panaynews.net/npa-clears-slain-cop-in-dipolog-buy-bust/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.