42 escapees from N. Cotabato jail recaptured
At least 42 escapees from the North Cotabato District Jail were recaptured a day after armed men stormed the jail facilities, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said yesterday.
BJMP director Serafin Barretto Jr. said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have joined jail operatives in pursuing the remaining fugitives.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said a joint pursuit operation was launched after some escapees were monitored in the nearby Kabacan and Matalam towns. It led to the capture of 18 escapees yesterday. Tan said troops in nearby towns were also alerted and ordered to conduct blocking operations to catch the rest of the prisoners who joined the escape
when about 100 rebels stormed the provincial jail in Kidapawan and rescued a dozen of their detained comrades.
Chief Insp. Joyce Birrey, North Cotabato police spokesman, said wounded inmates Peter John Ararao and John Meir Selgas were sent to a hospital for treatment.
Although authorities have yet to officially confirm which group was behind the raid, some officials said it was led by Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Commander Derby, who was previously detained at the facility for illegal possession of firearms and possession of illegal drugs.
Derby bolted jail in the last quarter of 2016.
Von Al- Haq, spokesman for the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), denied yesterday that their group had anything to do with the attack.
The outlawed BIFF, which boasts loyalty to the Islamic State, also denied any involvement.
Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said he immediately talked to MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar and BIAF chief Commander Sammy Almanzor to check on reports that the MILF had a hand in the attack.
He said he believes their denial.
“We have a very good partnership with the MILF. I’d like to inform you that we had a meeting with the MILF last Dec. 24 with the Army, PNP and NICA in Davao… the council of the MILF, their chief of staff, they are really sincere in helping us in dealing with the drug problem,” Sueno added.
He also defended the BJMP from criticisms that they failed to act on a tip regarding the jailbreak.
Sueno explained that the local BJMP alerted the Provincial Public Safety Battalion and the Philippine Army about their initial information.
The BJMP, although outnumbered, were able to resist the armed rebels who stormed the facility, he added.
“They were able to fight back and respond, which was why the attackers failed to go near the facility,” Sueno said in Filipino in a briefing in Malacañang.
Senior Insp. Xavier Solda, BJMP spokesman, said the escapees took the opportunity to bolt through the back portion of the facility when the jail guards were busy retaliating, holding their ground and protecting other inmates.
“The firefight lasted for almost two hours, hindi po biro (it was no joke). Jail personnel were able to hold their ground and protect the 1,400- plus of the 1,511 jail population,” Solda said.
At least five inmates, one jail guard and one barangay officer were killed in the attack, officials said.
Of the 158 escapees, officials said 58 were charged with various illegal drug violations. Others are being prosecuted for heinous crimes and involvement in deadly bombings.
Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said life in the provincial capitol complex, where the jail is located, is returning to normal, with several schools setting the dates for the resumption of classes.
He earlier suspended classes in at least five public schools for security reasons.
The gunmen, armed with M-16 and M-14 assault rifles and shoulder-fire launchers for 40 millimeter projectiles, attacked from an open field behind the jail.
The attack was the third in about a decade. Moro guerrillas previously attacked the jail twice and set free dozens of inmates, some of them members of secessionist groups.
Birrey said they are ready to simply return to jail any escapee who may decide to surrender peacefully.
“They can approach barangay leaders or local officials in any municipality and request assistance to link them to us so we can facilitate their return to the provincial jail,” Birrey told reporters.
The beleaguered provincial warden, Supt. Peter Bongat, said he only has 21 guards securing the facility where 1,511 inmates are detained.
Evangelista, chairman of the Kidapawan City peace and order council, said he requested the military to help run after those who bolted, aside from asking them to secure the place against more attacks.
Kidapawan City is the capital of North Cotabato, which has 17 towns in three congressional districts.
The jail was originally a public school that authorities converted into a detention facility and is near the North Cotabato provincial police office. – With Christina Mendez, John Unson, Michael Punongbayan, Roel Pareño