Republic of the Philippines

PHILIPPINES NATIONAL POLICE

ORMOC CITY POLICE STATION 1

Jose Navarro St. Ormoc City. Leyte

MEMORANDUM

FOR : Chief of the station

FROM : Officer in Charge

SUBJECT : Investigation Report on the Incident of the misencounter

DATE : 24 February 2021

I. AUTHORITY

a. Standard operating procedure

b. Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 6. Batasan hills dated

II. MATTERS TO BE INVESTIGATED

1. This pertains to the failed buy-bust operation resulted in a shootout between units of the
Philippine national police (PNP) and the Philippines drugs enforcement (PDEA) on
Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. The two police officers a PDEA agent and an
informant were killed in the incident. Both agencies claimed to be carrying out a legitimate
anti-drugs operation.
2. The PNP initially described the incident as a “mes encounter” claiming that the PDEA agent
opened fire first resulting in the shootout. While they considered the claim as one possible
account of the incident they later dropped it in order to allow the ongoing investigation to
determine what happed. The PDEA for its part claims that the police started the gunfight and
points to CCTV footage in which the PDEA can be seen identifying themselves to the police.
3. Another option that needs to be considered is that one of the parties was involved in a sell-
bust operation in which law enforcement authorities posed as drugs trafficker in order to
catch consumers of illegal substances. It is also possible that criminal drugs syndicates
fostered the condition that led to the gunfight between the two law enforcement agencies.

III. FACTS OF THE CASE

4. On the night of February 24 a shootout erupted at the ever go Tesco mall in Quezon City
between the Quezon City police district special operation unit and the PDEA special
enforcement service.
 5. In the event two officer a PDEA agent and an informant were killed which both organization
said was a misencounter.

IV. DISCUSSION

6. A day after a mall gunfight involving policemen and anti-drugs operation their officials fronted
the media to explain they didn’t know much about what went wrong or why it happened.
7. On Thursday February 25 the Philippine national police (PNP) and the Philippine drugs
enforcement agency (PDEA) admitted that they had hypotheses but not all the facts about the
gunfight between its anti-drugs operatives along Commonwealth Avenue on Wednesday
evening February 24.
8. In a press release read in public by PNP spokesman Brigadier General Ildebrandi Usman, the
agencies said “Neither agency has exact notion of what went wrong and the should have been
done.” The statement kicked off an hour-long press conference on the shooting which claimed
the lives of four people including three law enforcement officers and one PDEA informant.
9. Throughout the PNP and PDEA claimed they didn’t know or couldn’t answer reporters
inquiries about who the alleged targets of the operation were what happened to them and
why the police and PDEA ended up shooting each other. “We can’t determine if one of us is
doing the buy-bust or if both of us are performing the same buy-bust right now. That is
something we cannot say. We don’t have the proof. Allow us same time “Wilkins Villanueva
the PDEA chief stated.
10. Villanueva speculated that criminals may have done so much study on police and PDEA
operation that they were able to devise a plot to deceive anti-drugs squads and induce them
to fight each other.
11. On February 23 the PNP launched an anti-drugs operation in Baclaran Paranaque City against a
man named “mark” a brother of drugs dealer “Osman kassan” this mark was in touch with the
PNP informant “mama jo” mark on the others hand called off the operation since he felt he
was dealing with cops.
12. Following that occurrence the officers wrote the PNP a letter of coordination. In the letter they
stated that they would conduct another operation on February 24 in Litex Quezon City. The
PDEA was planned to conduct a separate operation in Quipo, Manila same evening against a
specific “Manisan” Manisan operation by the PDEA was canceled.
13. Untong Matalnas the PDEA team’s informant told them had another operation in Litex Quezon
City while they were returning to base PDEA. Agreed to participate in this operation despite
fact that a police squad would be in the vicinity later that evening.
14. According the PDEA their vehicle overheated and parked in front of a fast food establishment.
This was the scene of the shootout the PNP was anticipating untong the PDEA informant to
sell illegal drugs according to the NBI.
15. Meanwhile the PDEA was hopong that Mama Jo the PNP informant would return the drugs
she had obtained from the PDEA target. According to the NBI early investigation it was Untong
who lied about selling drugs to Mama Jo. The entire incident was caused by that untruth’

V. CONCLUSION
 16. The police should oversee the drugs operation to minimize a lack of cooperation amongst law
enforcement organizations performing anti-drugs operation. To prevent incident like this
happen again.
17. A few days after the tragedy officials from both agencies convened and resolved to create
unified standards for conducting anti-drugs operation in order to prevent such deadly
mistakes from happening again. When conducting operation in coordination procedures
between the two organization.

VI. RECOMMENDATION

18. It is highly recommended that the flaws in the aforementioned institutions operation
procedures be identified followed by the necessary changes to prevent a repeat and enable
them to capture those involved in the drugs trade. The ops manuals should be scrutinized line
by if need be for us to identify flaws in the procedures and the lapses committed if any.
19. Body worm cameras must be mandatory for both PNP and PDEA personnel in every
operation they do as cameras will be the neutral eyewitness to the encounter.
20. In order to prevent that happing better communication and coordination procedures must be
implemented between PNP and PDEA in conducting anti-drugs operation in specific areas.