PNP, PDEA ready joint rules on drug ops

MANILA, Philippines — The two lead enforcers of the government’s war on drugs are close to finalizing joint operational guidelines to avert future misencounters between their antinarcotics operatives.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Wilkins Villanueva on Sunday said that he and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar were set to sign the defined operational guidelines before the end of the month.

In an interview on radio station DZBB on Sunday, Villanueva said the defined operational guidelines were intended to “once and for all prevent misencounters” between PNP personnel and Pdea agents.

“I and the PNP chief will sign this as soon as it is completed,” he pointed out.

Last month, Eleazar said the joint operational guidelines would ensure that no two units would operate at the same place and time, to prevent future run-ins between PNP and Pdea operatives.

The unified guidelines came after anti-illegal drug operatives from both agencies almost clashed on May 14 at a mall parking lot in Quezon City, something that Eleazar noted should not have happened following a Feb. 24 misencounter, also in Quezon City, which resulted in the death of two policemen, a Pdea agent, and an informant.

But the PNP chief added that both agencies could collaborate and conduct joint operations if both were after the same target.