A drug “surrenderer” who was arrested last year was killed by unidentified gunmen in a shooting incident in Pio V. Corpuz town in Masbate province, police said Saturday.

The police said that Renato Palacio, 43, was shot to death by two gunmen while walking to the municipal plaza at around 8:15 p.m. Friday.

Palacio, who also voluntarily surrendered during the Operation Toktok-Hangyo (Tokhang) last July 12, was shot twice by the gunmen, hitting him on the left arm and left side of his body.

“He was tagged as a pusher and user personality under the drug watchlist by the Pio V. Corpuz municipal police station,” Senior Police Officer 1 Zandro Cabintoy, public information officer of Masbate provincial police, said.
Palacio died while on the way to the nearest rural health unit.

“The suspects fled to the mountainous portion of Sitio Manaay, Poblacion in Pio V. Corpuz, Masbate,” Senior Insp. Maria Luisa C. Calubaquib, Bicol police information officer, said.

Palacio was arrested last year along with three other drug users after an anonymous tip. He was caught while engaging in a pot session and repacking illegal drugs in a residential house in Esperanza, Masbate on May 12, 2015.