Illegal drugs eyed as motive: Bacolod City cop shot dead

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — A police officer in this city was shot to death by an unidentified motorcycle-riding gunman 7 a.m. yesterday (Thursday) in front of his children's school.

PO3 Rolando Malate sustained six gunshot wounds from a .45 caliber gun, two of which were on his neck and four on his chest, police investigation said.

City Police director Sr. Supt. Ricardo dela Paz said Malate died almost four hours after he was taken to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center.

Dela Paz said one of the possible motives for the killing could be illegal drugs in relation to his job with the Bacolod City Drug Enforcement Unit. "Anything is possible. We are looking also at personal grudges and other angles," he said.

Initial police investigation showed that Malate was driving his three children to the Bacolod Tay Tung High School in Hernaez St. when the incident happened.

His two children had just entered the school's gate while the third child had just alighted off the car when the gunman, who was riding in a motorcycle with a companion, shot him several times.

Witnesses said the motorcycle driver was wearing a helmet while his backrider, who was the gunman, was donning a bonnet.

The faculty and students of Bacolod Tay Tung High School were saddened by the death of Malate, who was also the coach of the school's track and field team.

As this developed, dela Paz created a special task group to conduct a thorough investigation on the case, with him leading the interim component.

"We want to bring solution to this crime soon. We are working to bring to bar of justice the persons responsible for this incident," dela Paz said.

The bulk of the investigation will focus on the drug cases handled by the victim. "From there, we could narrow them to personalities who have the motive to silence him," he added.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region 6 said it would wait for the investigation on Malate's murder. "It's too early to speculate without knowing all the angles," said Ronnie Delicana of the PDEA-6 legal office.

PDEA-6 assured the public that it would keep an eye on the events surrounding Malate's death and extend any help for the fast solution of the case. (FREEMAN)