A FORMER member of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) died after he allegedly resisted arrest from police operatives in a drug bust operation at Andres Bonifacio College Compound in Barangay Miputak in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte province Monday night, November 5.
Police identified the fatality as Superintendent Santiago Rapiz, who was assigned as logistics officer of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Police Office.
Joint operatives of the Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Zamboanga Peninsula led by Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Licup conducted the operation against Rapiz at 7:40 p.m.
Police records showed the shootout ensued when Rapiz tried to escape after he sensed he was transacting with a police agent.
He was cornered by the operatives but he did not surrender.
Rapiz allegedly drew his firearm and fired against the arresting officers, prompting the latter to retaliate.
He was rushed to Corazon Aquino Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Thomas Joseph Martir, officer-in-charge of Zamboanga City Police Office, confirmed the incident to SunStar Bacolod Monday night.
Martir, a former colleague of Rapiz in Nocppo, said he was also saddened about the incident but stressed that “it is a call of duty.”
Rapiz was formerly assigned as head of the Bacolod City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group and spokesperson of BCPO.
He was also a former police chief of E.B. Magalona Municipal Police Station and Victorias City Police Station in Negros Occidental.
He also served as head of the Police Community Relations Office at Nocppo headquarters in Bacolod City before he was transferred to PRO-Zamboanga Peninsula in 2016 after being tagged as a drug protector, along with seven other policemen from the province.
He earlier denied the allegations against him.