Albayalde on death of girl in Rodriguez bust: ‘We also lost a colleague’
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde on Thursday urged the public to “look at both ways” on the police buy-bust operation in Rodiguez, Rizal that killed a three-year-old girl, saying a police officer was also killed.
Albayalde said Renato Ulpina, one of the two subjects who were killed in the police anti-drug operation, should have surrendered as he was aware that his daughter was inside the house during the bust.
“We have to look at this on both ways. The suspect kung alam niya [that] (if he knew) he has a child there inside, he should have surrendered. If you have your family inside the house, why not just surrender voluntarily and peacefully?” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Four persons were killed in the police operation last June 29. Killed in the operation were Ulpina, his three-year-old daughter Myka, another unidentified suspect, and police Senior Master Sergeant Conrad Cabigao, who acted as the poseur buyer in the bust.
READ: 3-year-old girl hit in drug buy-bust crossfire dies
“Remember, Sgt. Cabigao died also and he left two children. They are still very young. Even the PNP lost lives here,” he said. Cabigao’s children are ages 7 and 12.
Albayalde said he is not justifying the death of the girl in the buy-bust, as he stressed that no one wanted a death in a police operation.
He said it was “really unfortunate” that the girl was a “collateral casualty.”
“‘Yung sa amin siguro, [sana] maintindihan ng tao. It’s part of our duty. Sometimes talaga we die in service. Kasama sa risk namin ‘yun, but the child is not. Hindi niya risk ‘yun,” he said.
(I hope the public will understand. It’s part of our duty. Sometimes we really die in service. It’s part of our risks, but not of the child. It’s not supposed to be a risk for her.)
Albayalde also criticized some groups for “taking advantage” of deaths in police anti-drug operations, saying these groups have made the issue political. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)
