MANILA – The unfortunate “misencounter” between members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has yielded four casualties.
On the part of the police, two QCPD officers were among those who died during the shootout near Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Wednesday evening.
On the side of PDEA, one of their personnel along with an informant perished. Two personnel who were reported in critical condition were now on stable condition.
According to PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva, his office and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are gathering all the pieces of evidence while a forensic examination will be conducted on the cell phones and other gadgets from both sides.
“As of now, wala kaming puwedeng maibigay, kung ano, how it happened, because we are collecting all the pieces of evidence needed para ma-find out namin kung paano ito nag-umpisa at kung paano ito nag-escalate,” Villanueva said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
“Dito tayo careful kasi gusto natin malaman kung ano talaga ang nangyari by getting all the pieces of evidence required by this investigation,” he added. “Speculations will not solve the problem but will just create a bigger one.”
PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas said that all the evidence gathered by investigators will be surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a separate parallel investigation into the alleged “misencounter” between the police and PDEA agents.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte was saddened and concerned about the fatal shootout between police officers and agents from PDEA. Duterte vowed that justice will be served.
“The President, of course, expressed both sadness and concern bakit nangyari nga ito na kapwa tao ng gobyerno ay nagkaputukan,” said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
“Ang in-assure niya, gaya ng nangyari sa Sulu, ay we will get to the bottom of this incident, magkakaroon po ng partial investigation at justice will be done,” he added./PN
