3rd body found in scene of deadly Commonwealth shootout

A third fatality was found at the scene of Wednesday's shootout between police personnel and agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), according to James Agustin's report on Unang Balita on Thursday.

The body of the third fatality was seen being brought out of a white van reportedly belonging to PDEA agents past 1 a.m. Thursday or hours after the shootout that the police described as a misencounter. 

Two policemen have been earlier reported killed in the incident, which took place at the parking lot of a fastfood restaurant along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Based on documents shown to GMA News by a source, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has coordinated with PDEA regarding a buy-bust operation it will conduct in the area as early as February 23. The preoperation report included the names of the targets.

In response, PDEA issued a certificate of coordination that the QCPD District Special Operations Unit extended to February 25 as it has only a 24-hour validity.

Authorities are already looking into the alleged misencounter as both parties are claiming they are performing legitimate anti-drug operations. —KBK, GMA News