Be killed if you resist arrest,rogue police told

BACOLOD CITY: Policemen involved in illegal drugs will be bodily harmed or killed if they resist arrest, according to Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, Western Visayas regional police director.

“We are warning criminals, including those hiding in police uniforms. Never put up a fight against arresting police officers or we would use force to defend ourselves. Such may end in tragic loss of lives,” Bulalacao said.

Bulalacao’s warning comes after President Rodrigo Duterte offered a P5- million reward for every slain “ninja cop” or rogue police.

“If alive, I wll give you P10,000. If dead, P5 million,” Duterte said.

“They better surrender,” Bulalacao said.

“We have received consistent reports on police personnel who are into drug protection racket and illegal drug trading,” according to him.

The reports are being verified and these commissioned and non- commissioned police officers have been placed under surveillance, Bulalacao said.

He directed his Regional Drug Enforcement Unit ( RDEU) chief, Senior Insp. Kennith Bermejo, to review the unit’s list of police personnel reported to have links with illegal drugs.

Bermejo said “three or four” police commissioned officers are currently under surveillance.

If the RDEU has “enough evidence against our colleagues, we will arrest them,” he added.

“The President’s offer of a bounty of P5 million is his expression of how serious the government is in eradicating crimes and arresting erring officials in uniform. Criminals hiding in police uniform must heed the call of the President to surrender and reform or face the consequence of getting arrested and jailed,” Bulalacao said.

According to him, the hotline numbers he launched to receive tips from the community regarding crooks in uniform were being flooded with text messages and calls.

He said some 200 messages and calls have been received since June 21.

The hotline numbers are 09989673651 and 09985629523 open 24/ 7.

“These are my personal numbers and I read all messages and entertain calls. I assure secrecy of the caller’s or text message sender’s identity. Let us avoid pranks because this is a serious matter,” Bulalacao added.