Ilocos Sur cop stabbed dead; wife hurt in melee

BANTAY, Ilocos Sur, Philippines – A police officer serving as one of the security escorts of Ilocos Sur Vice Gov. Deogracias Victor Savellano was knifed to death in a basketball court here Friday night, while his six-month pregnant wife, also a police officer, was seriously stabbed in the abdomen.

Investigation showed that the victim, PO2 Rufino Rapacon, rushed out of his house near the basketball court in Barangay Cabaroan where a tournament was being held to pacify the players who were having a quarrel.

PO1 Estrellita Regua, assistant investigator of the Bantay police station, told The STAR that four brothers attacked Rapacon, with one of them stabbing him in the back with a broken beer bottle.

She identified the suspects as the Bautista brothers Roberto, 39; Roger, 48; Rollie and Ronnie, 33.

When Rapacon fell, Rollie Bautista stabbed the policeman in the chest with a knife. It was Roger who attacked the policeman with the beer bottle, Regua said.

Rapacon was not carrying his service firearm during the incident, as the guns of policemen were sealed to prevent indiscriminate firing during the New Year’s Eve revelry, Regua said.

The victim’s wife, SPO1 Florence Rapacon, rushed to the scene with her pistol when she saw her husband fell, but she was stabbed in the abdomen.

Mrs. Rapacon was rushed to the Metro Vigan Cooperative Hospital where she and her unborn child were declared safe several hours later.

Also brought to the hospital were Rollie and Ronnie Bautista who Mrs. Rapacon managed to hit with her pistol. Their two brothers are now in police custody.