Senior Inspector Eleuterio Tersona, 47, of PCP 5, died from a stab wound while undergoing treatment at the Makati Medical Center.
Accompanied by two of his men, Tersona went to the Marcelino Compound in Barangay Calzada-Tipaz following a tip from concerned residents that illegal gambling activities were being conducted in the area.
The three officers arrived at the area at around 10:15 a.m. and found more than 20 men engaged in an illegal cockfight.
A commotion ensued when the gamblers saw the uniformed policemen. They started running to elude arrest.
As the lawmen tried to corner some of the fleeing suspects, Tersona suddenly fell to the ground. Realizing Tersona was wounded, the two other officers — SPO1 Edison Pampag and PO3 Rolando de la Cruz — had to let go of the men they caught to rush their commander to the hospital.
Superintendent Ramon Reyes, chief of the Taguig police, said that before he died, Tersona told him what happened.
"He found himself sandwiched by a group of men during the commotion and only realized he was stabbed when blood started oozing from the left side on his abdomen," Reyes said.
Tersona was unable to describe the men who sandwiched him during the commotion.
The police official, who was first brought to the Cruz-Rabe Hospital before being transferred to Makati Medical Center, died later that night due to complications caused by a single stab wound.
"We lost a very good colleague. He was dedicated to his work, and even up to the end, he fulfilled his duty," Reyes said.
Tersona has handled several positions at the various precincts in the city. He was assistant commander of PCP 5 in 2002 before becoming commander of PCPs 2, 3 and 5.
He also became chief of the Station Operations Division and had been twice awarded the Medalya ng Kasanayan in 1994 and 1999.
City Mayor Freddie Tinga has condemned the killing of the police official and directed police to leave no stone unturned for the immediate arrest of Tersona’s killer.