Both the operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were on legitimate buy-bust operations on Wednesday that, however, may have gone wrong, resulting in a shootout between the two camps.

Wilkins Villanueva, PDEA director general, said in a joint press conference on Thursday with the Philippine National Police (PNP) that operatives from his agency and QCPD were on separate buy-bust missions that, however, resulted in a “misencounter.”

“One thing I [can] tell you is that PDEA is doing a legitimate operation and police is doing a legitimate operation,” he said.

However, Villanueva did not like what media did in its reporting on what possibly lead to the shootout.

“This is what I’ve been saying. You (media) immediately did interviews,” he said.

Two policemen were killed in the shootout between anti-drug operatives of QCPD and PDEA on Wednesday night near a mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Another policeman and three PDEA operatives were injured. The shootout happened at around 6:30 p.m. near the Ever Gotesco Mall located at Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

The “Sketchy Incident Report ” of Police Station 6 in Batasan Hills showed the QCPD’s District Special Operations Unit (DSOU) launched a buy-bust operation near the Ever Gotesco Mall.

However, the DSOU operatives were transacting with PDEA’s Special Enforcement Service (SES) agents.

“Allegedly during the (confrontation), PDEA agents first engaged to shot (sic) towards the PNP personnel, leaving no option [for police but] to fight back… [and which] resulted [in] series of injuries (sic) to both parties,” QCPD’s Station 6 said in the report.

PDEA claims its anti-drug operation near the mall was legitimate.