PHILIPPINE National Police chief (PNP), General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chair, Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva won’t let drug lords laugh while their undercover officers occasionally clash with each other during anti-narcotics operations in the same area and on the same time, the Journal Group was told.

Both top officials have agreed to come up with a sure formula to prevent another misunderstanding between their men: Unified Operational Guidelines that will serve as the Bible of the PNP and PDEA men in the conduct of anti-narcotics operations.

Gen. Eleazar earlier noted that “illegal drug syndicates are taking advantage of the weaknesses or gaps in the rules of procedure on coordination and inter-operations between the PNP and the PDEA. Kasama ang PDEA, ito ang tututukan natin ngayon para maiwasan na maulit pa ang anumang pagkukulang sa koordinasyon at komunikasyon.”

During a meeting of top PNP and PDEA officials led by Eleazar and Villanueva, both agencies resolved to strike hard on illegal drug syndicates in the country.

Gen. Eleazar said that he and Villanueva agreed that there will be full coordination between their operating units and that one PNP unit must not operate in an area where the PDEA is conducting an anti-narcotics operation and vice-versa.

“Ang bottomline ng usapan namin eh wag lang magsabay sa isang operation. Hindi dapat mag-operate sa isang lugar at the same time ang PDEA and PNP, otherwise, mag-joint operation na lang kami,” the PNP chief said.

Gen. Eleazar said he and Villanueva want to show to their men that they are good friends. Eleazar belongs to Philippine Military Academy ‘Hinirang’ Class of 1987 while Villanueva is from PMA ‘Maringal’ Class of 1988.

“Kami ni Wilkins ay matagal nang magkaibigan. In fact, direct underclassman ko siya and he is my foster brother sa PMA. Ipinapakita namin ngayon na kami ay naguusap kasi yun din ang gusto naming mangyari at gawin ng mga tao namin,” said Gen. Eleazar.

The PNP chief said that he and Villanueva have committed to draw new guidelines that will prevent friction between the two agencies.

The first was triggered by a ‘misencounter’ between PDEA and Quezon City Police District Special Operations Unit agents along Commonwealth Avenue in Q.C. which left two policemen, one PDEA agent and a PDEA informant dead.

The 2nd was a ‘near misencounter’ between members of the PDEA Regional Office 4-A and members of the QCPD Station 4 near SM Fairview in Q.C. two Fridays ago.

“With the commitment of the two agencies, hopefully hindi na mangyari uli ang mga ito. We agreed that the PNP Director for Operations and his counterpart will talk to merge our unified operational guidelines, not only in Q.C. not only in Manila but the rest of the country,” Gen. Eleazar said.

During the most recent incident, the concerned PDEA and QCPD officers were after different targets but were in the same area.

Gen. Eleazar said that since both groups were armed, there really was a near exchange of fire.

Under their agreement, the PNP chief said there will be specific guidelines that need to be followed by officers from the two agencies or else, they will be facing administrative sanctions.

“We need effective supervision here to prevent similar incidents from taking place in the future. Actually, that (Fairview) incident was an unfortunate event but we need to clarify things here,” said Gen. Eleazar.

He added that since police need to coordinate their anti-narcotics operations with the PDEA, it should be noted that they should know the actual place where the PNP anti-narcotics officers will be conducting an operation and thus, should not conduct an operation in the same area at the same time.

Also discussed during the meeting was more rigid coordination procedures that must clearly indicate the specific areas of operation at the Station Level in big cities.

The officials also met to iron out gaps and weaknesses in procedure on coordination and interoperability between the two law enforcement agencies tasked to jointly wage the government’s war on drugs.

The top cop set the meeting in the aftermath of the May 14 incident at the parking lot of a mall in Quezon City which was described as a ‘misunderstanding’ between some members of the PDEA Regional Office 4-A and the QCPD Station 4.

The incident came nearly three months after a botched buy-bust at the parking lot of Ever Gotesco along Commonwealth Avenue in Q.C. on February 24 resulted in a bloody shootout which left two QCPD officers, a PDEA agent and a PDEA informant dead.

Both agencies claimed they were conducting a legitimate anti-drug operation in the area. Officers from the two law enforcement agencies exchanged fire for nearly an hour triggering panic in the area. No shopper nor motorist were hurt in the gunbattle.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) took over the probe of the incident on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Fortunately, an inter-agency courtesy last May 14 prevailed and timely communication averted a repeat of what happened last February along Commonwealth Avenue, also in Q.C., the PNP Public Information Office headed by Brigadier Gen. Ronaldo E. Olay said.

Gen. Eleazar stressed the need for all government’s drug enforcement units to constantly analyze, discuss and update the strategies in the campaign against illegal drugs to identify the areas of improvement in the conduct of intelligence-gathering and operations.

The top cop said the two incidents which both happened in Q.C. only strengthen the agencies’ resolve to strike hard against them.

A PNP report said that around 3:50 p.m. last May 14, a ‘misunderstanding’ between some 19 members of the PDEA Region 4-A led by Intelligence Agent Christopher Basilio and 12 operatives of the QCPD Station 4 Drug Enforcement Unit led by Major Dennis Francisco occurred at the parking area of SM Fairview in Barangay Greater Fairview in Novaliches, Q.C.

The report said that the QCPD officers were conducting an anti-narcotics operation in the area not knowing that one of the personalities involved in the sting is a PDEA agent. The QCPD members were disarmed and handcuffed by the PDEA operatives, the report said.