Senate postpones PNP-PDEA shootout hearing after chiefs get COVID-19

The Senate postponed its long-awaited probe into the deadly shootout between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) after the two agencies’ chiefs tested positive for COVID-19.

The hearing was scheduled on Monday, March 15, after it was initially postponed.

PNP chief General Debold Sinas announced on Thursday, March 11, that he tested positive for COVID-19, while PDEA chief Director General Wilkins Villanueva said on Sunday, March 14, that he also contracted the coronavirus.

In a notice released on Sunday, March 14, the Senate announced that the hearing scheduled on Monday, March 15, was postponed once more.

The hearing was first postponed after President Rodrigo Duterte said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) alone would probe the shooting that killed 2 policemen, a PDEA agent, and a PDEA informant.

The PNP earlier said Sinas was asymptomatic, while Villanueva did not describe the severity of his infection in his announcement. Instead, said he “will be back” and he was “only isolated.”

The postponement further delays one of the most anticipated public probes in 2021, as the shooting between the two law enforcement agencies was a first in history.

The PNP and PDEA are also the faces of President Rodrigo Duterte’s popular but bloody campaign against illegal drugs. – Rappler.com

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Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.