The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) signed Friday, July 9, a joint memorandum circular (JMC) which seeks to avoid fatal misencounters in anti-illegal drug operations by strengthening their coordination efforts.

PNP Chief, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and PDEA Director-General Wilkins Villanueva signed the JMC containing the coordination guidelines that need to be followed by both agencies when conducting operations.

"The PNP's desire to support PDEA as we sign these unified guidelines foster our sincere intent and commitment to sustain and intensify the war against illegal drugs," said Eleazar during the signing of the JMC held at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

According to the JMC, only the Police Drug Enforcement Group - Special Operations Units (PDEG-SOUs) and Drug Enforcement Units (DEUs) of regional, district, provincial, city, and municipal police stations are authorized to conduct and coordinate anti-illegal drug operations with the PDEA. A certificate of coordination (COC) is issued by the agencies to the operating units.

A "One Jurisdiction, One Operation" rule is also enforced where "only one anti-drug operation in a particular area at a particular time" shall be conducted by PDEA teams in areas covered by PNP stations.

A pre-operation report and coordination form must be submitted by the PNP to PDEA if in case a follow up operation is needed in another target location separate from the first area of operation.

If personal coordination cannot be made, it can be conducted through online means.

"It is our shared hope that the unified guidelines will finally counter loopholes and better enhanced our collaboration as well as our operational capability and capacity in fighting the social menace as we live up with the sworn duty to protect the community all for the common good," Eleazar said.

The unified guidelines were crafted after the two misencounters that occured between PNP and PDEA personnel this year.

On February 21, a botched buy-bust operation resulted in a shootout between anti-drug operatives of the Quezon City Police District - Special Operations Unit and PDEA Special Enforcement Services in Quezon City where two cops and two PDEA agents died.

Three months later, Quezon City cops again figured in a near misencounter in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City on May 14. Luckily, the cops and agents involved managed to sort things out which prevented a shootout.

"Despite the fact that there were only two unfortunate incidents out of the thousands of joint operations that PNP and PDEA conducted in the last five years, the humility from both sides to admit that the existing protocols need to be updated led us to this united, unified coordination guidelines in the conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations," Eleazar said.