No checkpoint shooting in Camarines Sur; incident just a ‘drill’ — PNP

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday clarified that a viral video showing a shooting incident at a police checkpoint in Camarines Sur was just a simulation exercise.

“The scene in the video clip is not the real thing but a drill to test the readiness of the police to respond to hypothetical situations,” PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said.

Banac was referring to the video clip uploaded on Facebook which displayed a motorcycle rider being confronted by policemen at a checkpoint. The rider then went to retrieve something from his motorcycle when the police officer shot him.

But Banac said the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group probed the video and found that it was a simulation exercise (SIMEX) on Defense Battle Drill held by the 91st Special Action Company at a quarantine control point along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur on April 23, Thursday.

Banac warned the public to stop spreading the said video as it is “entirely different from its real nature and content.”