QC ready to conduct own probe into police-PDEA shootout if needed
MANILA, Philippines — Citing the threats to public safety, the Quezon City government said it is ready to launch its own probe into an anti-drug operation outside a mall that led to a shootout between anti-drug operatives and personnel of the national police if a complainant comes forward.
“[Mayor Joy Belmonte] was very much affected after the shooting incident in Commonwealth as it put at risk the lives and safety of those in the area. It is a commercial establishment, and any act of violence is inimical to public safety," Quezon City People's Law Enforcement Board executive director Ralph Calinisan told Philstar.com in an online exchange.
To recall, personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police clashed outside the Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City last Wednesday night which resulted in four deaths. Both agencies have claimed that the operations were official and coordinated with one another.
Videos of the incident that circulated on social media showed that some bystanders had to take shelter from the exchange of gunfire.
Under Republic Act No. 6975, the local governments of cities and municipalities are required to have a People's Law Enforcement Board, which are court-like bodies mandated to "hear and decide citizen's complaints or cases filed before it against erring officers and members of the Philippine National Police."
"The QC PLEB is very much ready and able to conduct its own probe of the incident after the investigation of the NBI, in light of obvious public safety concerns, provided a Complainant surfaces as required by our rules," Calinisan, a lawyer, said when asked about possible action on the part of the board.
"Any ordinary citizen who feels aggrieved is most welcome to seek recourse with the PLEB. All told, the PLEB welcomes the independent probe of the NBI," he added, though he was careful to mention, however, that the PLEB only has jurisdiction over policemen and not operatives from the PDEA.
A "sketchy report" from the Batasan Police Station 6 said that personnel of the Quezon City Police District's Detective Special Operations Unit conducted a buy-bust operation they described as having "complete coordinations and necessary papers."
The same report alleged that it was the PDEA operatives who opened fire first, though Police Gen. Debold Sinas, PNP chief, later walked back these claims.
Investigate sell-bust angle, QC urges
The QC PLEB chief "strongly suggested" that the angle on a possible sell-bust conducted during the operation be "exhaustively investigated."
Police Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, who heads the National Capital Region Police Office, said earlier in an interview aired over ABS-CBN that the personnel involved could have carried out a "sell-bust."
A sell-bust, where state forces pose as drug dealers to arrest any customers is illegal.
"It must be stressed that law prohibits the sale of prohibited drugs, and this prohibition extends even to law enforcers. Further, law enforcers are also disallowed from instigating or inducing anyone from committing a crime. Law enforcers can entrap a criminal, but they cannot instigate the commission of a crime," Calinisan said.
"If you cannot instigate, all the more reason that you cannot commit a crime to catch a criminal. And for the general public to believe the results of the investigation, the details of the ongoing investigation must be released in a transparent and timely manner,” he added.
Though the PDEA and PNP were set to conduct a joint investigation through the latter's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, President Rodrigo Duterte has since ordered the NBI to conduct an independent probe instead, directing the two agencies to drop theirs.
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.
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