NPA: Probe Zamboanga police officer’s killing

From the Manila Times (Nov 8): NPA: Probe Zamboanga police officer’s killing

The Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) has called for an inquiry into the killing of Supt. Santiago Rapiz by members of the Philipine National Police Counter-Intelligence Task Force (PNP-CITF) on Monday night in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.

JB Regalado, LPC spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday that Rapiz, who used to head the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Bacolod City Police Office, prior to his transfer to Mindanao, “has no criminal record, nor any involvement in illegal drugs.”

Regalado described Rapiz as “a good athlete, a basketball player and a competent police officer, who was actively involved in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, wherever he was assigned.”

A police report said Rapiz, who was assigned as logistics officer of the Zamboanga Del Norte Police Provincial Office, was the subject of a buy-bust by the CITF operatives, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Chief Supt. Emmanuel Licup, Region 9 police director, at Andres Bonifacio College compound in Dipolog City.

The buy-bust led to an encounter after Rapiz, who was cornered, instead of giving up to authorities, took his gun and fired at the arresting CITF operatives, according to police reports.

Regalado said the NPA does not believe that Rapiz was among the “narco-cops” in Negros, contrary to allegations of PDEA and President Rodrigo Duterte, allegations that led to his reassignment to Dipolog City.

The transfer of Rapiz to Mindanao was part of maneuvering by ranking police officials in the Philippine National Police (PNP) who have alleged linkages to drug syndicates and politicians involved in illegal activities, he added.

Rapiz was among the 50 police personnel from Negros Occidental and Bacolod City reassigned to Mindanao and the Cordillera Administrative Region, by the defunct Negros Island Regional Police Office, after they were linked to illegal drug activities by a self-proclaimed member of a local drug group, who is now under the custody of a politician.

Rapiz had repeatedly denied the accusations against him.

Many of his colleagues in the police service in Negros Occidental were shocked by the incident, as some of them described Rapiz as a dedicated police officer, who rose from the ranks to become a police superintendent.

Rapiz used to serve as police chief of EB Magalona, the cities of Escalante and Victorias and commander of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Group of Negros Occidental, before he was reassigned to Mindanao two years ago.

Because of his crusade against illegal drugs, whose campaign did not spare anyone who are behind it, Regalado said, Rapiz was made a “sacrificial lamb” by the ranking officials of the PNP, using the CITF and the PDEA.

Rapiz was among the more than 13,000 victims of Oplan Tokhang of the Duterte administration, Regalado said, adding that Rapiz was known among Negrenses as a “good soldier,” as he cannot afford to fight against arresting police officers, who are CITF members.

At the same time, Regalado also raised the possibility that the P50,000 worth of illegal drugs allegedly taken from Rapiz was “ planted,” in order to justify the police claims that he resisted arrest.

https://www.manilatimes.net/npa-probe-zamboanga-police-officers-killing/464218/