With NBI probe nearly done, PNP, PDEA to talk anew on avoiding misencounters
CLASH SITE National Bureau of Investigation agents, in this photo taken on Feb. 27, gather evidence at the scene of the shootout between policemen and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) personnel near a mall on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. At right, a photo released by the National Capital Region Police Office shows PDEA men subdued by cops after the “misencounter” in February. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/NCRPO-PIO
MANILA, Philippines —The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) would sit down again to discuss measures to avoid future misencounters, regardless of the result of the National Bureau of Investigation’s probe.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar gave assurance on Monday that both the PNP and PDEA would use the results of the NBI probe to improve the two law enforcement agencies’ coordination, to ensure that there would not be a repeat of the bloody misencounter in a mall along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City last February 24.
On Sunday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra whose Department of Justice oversees the NBI said that the bureau is almost through with its investigation.
“The unfortunate incident between the anti-narcotics operatives of the PNP and the PDEA in Quezon City was a tragedy that we both learned a lot from. As a result of this, nagkaroon ng isang napakagandang coordination protocol na pinangunahan ko mismo at ni PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva na ngayon ay ipinapatupad na down to the ground level,” Eleazar said in a statement.
(As a result of this, a very good coordination protocol was crafted during a meeting led by myself and PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva, which is still being used today up to the ground level.)
“Makakaasa ang ating mga kababayan na muli naming pag-uusapan ang anumang resulta ng imbestigasyong ito upang ma-improve pa ang coordination protocol na ginawa base naman sa perspektibo ng ating DOJ,” he added.
(The public can expect that we would talk about this whatever the result of the investigation is, to further improve the coordination protocol which was created based on the perspective of the DOJ.)
On PDEA’s side, officials said that they will defer issuing a statement until the investigation’s findings are released.
Last February, gunshots were heard near the mall on Commonwealth Avenue. Police officers initially reported that there were law enforcers dispatched to the incident while the Philippine Red Cross said that two police officers were injured.
Bystanders initially thought that it was a police operation gone awry, but further details revealed that the subject of the police operation were actually PDEA agents. Eventually, at least four individuals were reportedly killed — two police officers, one PDEA agent, and an informant.
After the firefight, PNP and PDEA officials met to discuss gaps in their operational procedure and coordination. However, that incident was followed by another misencounter where Quezon City Police District (QCPD) officers chanced upon PDEA agents again in an anti-drug operation in Fairview.
While no one was hurt during the second incident, it called for a greater cooperation between the two agencies, leading to a memorandum circular to iron out differences.
“Last month the PNP and the PDEA signed a memorandum circular, outlining joint operational protocols, to prevent the recurrence of misencounters between our operatives,” Eleazar said.
“We need a united front to win the war on drugs and this is what the memorandum circular ensures: that anti-illegal drug operatives work together to stop the traffic of illegal drugs and eradicate the narcotics trade in the country,” he added.
