Cops charged over PNP-PDEA shootout to cooperate in DOJ probe -Eleazar

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday welcomed the criminal charges filed against its cops involved in the February 24 shootout with anti-drug agents in Quezon City that killed four people.

In a statement, PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar said the involved personnel will participate in the review of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the matter.

“[They] would be made available should the DOJ require their participation in the conduct of its own review with regard to the findings submitted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI),” he said.

On Monday, the NBI filed criminal charges before the DOJ in connection with the deadly shootout between policemen and anti-narcotics operatives.

The charges were filed against 12 Quezon City cops and four agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The charges were for homicide, attempted homicide, direct assault, falsification of official documents, robbery, and conniving with or consenting to evasion.

According to Eleazar, PNP’s Internal Affairs Service is now finalizing the result of its separate probe for the administrative cases that were filed against the involved personnel.

On February 24, elements of the PNP and PDEA engaged in a shootout in front of a fast food chain along Commonwealth Avenue, killing at least four people.

Both agencies said they were conducting anti-drug operations at the time.

President Rodrigo Duterte designated the NBI as the sole body to investigate the shootout. Lawmakers had also conducted hearings aimed at shedding light on the incident.

Following the incident, the two agencies in July crafted and signed a memorandum circular, the Unified Coordination Guidelines in the Conduct of Anti-Illegal Drugs Operations, to prevent similar incidents.

“After all, we have the same common enemies in this aggressive campaign—the illegal drugs syndicates which continue to threaten the youth, the Filipino people and our nation,’ Elazar said. -MDM, GMA News