Policemen and troops from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency figured in a "misencounter," the police chief for Metro Manila said Thursday, explaining the shootout in Quezon City that left two law enforcers dead.
The gunbattle near Ever Gotesco mall on Wednesday night paralyzed a large portion of Commonwealth Avenue during rush hour. Both the Quezon City police and the PDEA claimed they were in the area for a drug buy-bust.
The PDEA is separate from the police as it is the law enforcement arm of the Dangerous Drugs Board, an agency under the Office of the President.
ALSO READ: Police, Anti-Drug Agents Figure in Shootout in QC, Casualties Reported
"It is very unfortunate na nagkaroon ng misencounter both sides," Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao, the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, told reporters on the scene.
"It is a legitimate anti-illegal drug operation. Kung sino yung nag buy-bust sino ka buy-bust yun pa iimbestigahan natin," he said.
A buy bust involves law enforcers posing as buyers with marked money to catch drug sellers.
"One thing is for sure, ‘yong ating mga tropa ay nag-coordinate at may proper na documents supporting a buy-bust operation and in fact may hawak po silang buy-bust money na talagang tunay na pera," said PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon.
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