Palace, Congress seek shootout probe
It remains unclear why police officers from the nearby district station were at the scene of what PDEA calls a legitimate operation and ended up exchanging fire with the narcotics enforcers
A “saddened” and “concerned” President Rodrigo Duterte wants to know the truth behind a recent buy-bust operation that led to a shootout between squads of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Malacañang said Thursday.
Duterte’s spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said the Philippine leader sought an “impartial” investigation to “get to the bottom of this incident” in Quezon City which left four dead and others injured.
“We will get to the bottom of this incident. The assurance the President made is like that one he made in Sulu,” said Roque, referring to a mis-encounter between nine policemen and four Army intelligence officers in Maubo, Patikul last 29 June that left four soldiers dead.
“The President expressed both sadness and why it happened?” Roque told reporters.
The Palace official said Duterte had been informed about the incident during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday night.
Roque said the Palace is confident that justice will be served, noting that the PNP and PDEA have formed an investigation panel to look into the incident.
He also pointed out that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a parallel probe.
“There’ll be an impartial investigation and justice will be done,” he said.
The incident near the Ever Gotesco mall marks the first shootout between the PNP and PDEA under Duterte’s administration — the two government bodies leading his internationally-condemned campaign against illegal drugs.
The incident poses a question about whether the police and anti-narcotics officers follow their own procedures, since the PNP is required to coordinate with the PDEA before launching any anti-drug operation.
It remains unclear why police officers from the nearby district station were at the scene of what PDEA calls a “legitimate” operation and ended up exchanging fire with the narcotics enforcers.
Conflicting reports quoted the police as saying that the PDEA agents fired first, contradicting claims by drug enforcers, who blamed the cops for the gunfire.
No civilian was hurt during the incident, police said, but pedestrians and mall shoppers ran for cover as the two sides exchanged fire.
The Senate committee on public order, headed by former police chief and Duterte ally Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, is set to launch its own probe into the shoutout on 2 March.
The House of Representatives also sought an investigation of the matter.