20 Rodriguez, Rizal cops relieved over death of minor

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty police officers including the chief of police of Rodriguez, Rizal were relieved from their posts as a result of the death of a minor allegedly used by his father, a drug suspect, as a human shield in a bloody buy-bust operation.

The officers were relieved to “pave the way for an impartial investigation,” Brig. Gen. Edward Carranza, Calabarzon regional police director told INQUIRER.net on Thursday.

Three year-old Myka Ulpina succumbed to a gunshot wound at the height of a buy-bust operation last June 29, where her father, Renato and another suspect were being pursued by police.

Renato and his accomplice, along with  Senior Master Sergeant Conrad Cabigao, the undercover police officer who posed as a buyer of illegal drugs, were also killed in the shootout.

Carranza said the firearms of the relieved officers will undergo ballistic examination to pinpoint the gun where the bullet that killed the child came from. (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)