‘Narco’ cop busters to get reward — Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has promised to reward police personnel involved in the drug bust that neutralized Col. Santiago Rapiz, logistics officer of the Zamboanga del Norte police, in Dipolog on Monday.

“Any policeman who will kill his superior because the superior is into drugs, I will give you a prize and a trip to Hong Kong,” Duterte said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night, during which he gave a refresher on the administration’s war on drugs.

“Drugs is the problem... it has been raised to the level of a national security threat,” the President said.

Rapiz, who was in Duterte’s narco list, reportedly shot it out with an undercover agent who bought shabu worth P50,000 in front of the  Andres Bonifacio College in Barangay Miputak. 

Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat Jr. of the Philippine National Police-Counter Intelligence Task Force said Rapiz was a protector of drug traffickers in Western Visayas and received P700,000 weekly from drug dealers in the region.

Rapiz was a former police chief of EB Magalona town and the cities of Escalante and Victorias in Negros Occidental. He was commander of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Group before he was transferred to Mindanao due to his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The Leonardo Panaligan Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) called for a thorough probe into the incident, claiming that Rapiz was not involved in illegal drugs.

The NPA said Rapiz was made a “sacrificial lamb” by officials of the PNP. – Gilbert Bayoran