MANILA - The camp of a man who survived a police drug operation where four of his companions were shot dead claim that the perpetrators shot at the victims "execution-style."

Atty. Gil Anthony Aquino, counsel for survivor Efren Morillo, said this claim is supported by the autopsy reports they have obtained.

Morillo was one of five men who were shot by armed police in civilian clothing in Payatas, Quezon City last August. He survived the ordeal by playing dead and rushing himself to the nearest hospital after the shooters left.

According to Aquino, the cops said in their affidavit that their operation in the house of Marcello Daa--also a slain victim--was a "regular Tokhang operation," but upon arrival, the victims felt their presence and started shooting at them for no reason.

"When they shot back and introduced themselves as policemen, they said that the victims said, and I quote, ‘Hindi kami papahuli nang patay,’ just like that old Tagalog movie," he said in an interview with "Mornings@ANC."

However, Aquino said, autopsy results they obtained showed that "yes, our theory that this is a summary execution, that they were shot execution-style holds actually."

He asserted that the victims sustained many other wounds that "point to the fact that it was not a shoot-out."

"In a shootout, you would expect that they were shot in the front and back, and the trajectory would be straight. Here, they were upwards and downwards with sharp trajectories," he said.

"How would that happen if not for the perpetrators either shooting them while they were kneeling down or they were already lying on the ground," he added.

Aquino said an account of the incident had indicated that Jessie Cule, one of the victims, was "hugging the knees of the policeman and begging for his life, so he was shot on the shoulders."

Aquino said Cule's autopsy report says he was shot on the right deltoid.

"You will not be shot on the right deltoid with the trajectory coming downwards unless you are directly on top of the guy," he said.

Aquino added, another victim, Anthony Comendo, was shot in the nasal region, directly downwards, and the bullet still lodged in his body.

"You will not be able to shoot that person unless that person is probably kneeling down and you’re right on top of him," he said.

Morillo was shot below the heart and the exit wound is also in the front, according to Aquino.

He said this is consistent with Morillo's account that he was shot while he was sitting down and PO3 Allan Formilleza "shot him right then and there, point blank."

Morillo and the victims' families last month secured a temporary protection order preventing the accused officers from approaching them, intimidating them, or conducting drug operations in the area.

• READ: Supreme Court orders police to stay away from Payatas 'tokhang' victims' kin

Atty. Joel Butuyan, counsel for Morillo, believes their case could uncover other crimes committed by policemen operating under the guise of a legitimate 'Oplan Tokhang' operation.

"I think because of this case, there are moves now by other organizations to reach out to other victims and if they get hold of the autopsy reports or the police reports, it’s going to come out that many of these incidents are actually extrajudicial killings committed by rogue policemen," he said.

The police's role in the administration's anti-drug campaign had been scaled down, and its leadership has announced a temporary halt to "tokhang" operations as they launch a housecleaning campaign to rid its ranks of of corrupt officers.

ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group show there were 2,987 drug-related deaths from May 10, 2016 to January 24, 2017.

Although some of those deaths were the results of legitimate police operations, the government said majority of the killings were carried out by illegal drug syndicates themselves.