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Monday, March 14, 2005
Police prepare for assault; Sayyafs swear bombings all over Manila
MANILA (5th Update 4:40 p.m.) -- Personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team have positioned themselves inside the grounds of Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig while negotiations for the peaceful surrender of Abu Sayyaf inmates continue.
Police set a 3 p.m. deadline for the negotiations but apparently it has been extended.
Mujiv Hataman, a Partylist lawmaker who was negotiating with the inmates by telephone, said they were demanding assurances they won't be harmed if they surrender, speedy trials, the right to air their grievances to authorities and interviews with the media.
"We are now closer to an agreement," he said.
Police earlier negotiated for the release of some of the sick and old inmates who are with Abu Sayyaf group holding the second floor of the detention facility inside Camp Bagong Diwa.
"As soon as we do this, we will proceed to the next step of the operations," National Capital Region Director Avelino Razon said in an ANC interview.
A spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf suspects, detainee Hazdi Daie, threatened in a telephone interview that if police storm the building, "then you will hear bombings all over Manila."
Three Abu Sayyaf inmates in an apparent attempt to break prison grabbed three short firearms from jail guards while queuing for breakfast 7:00 a.m. Monday.
The bandits opened fire on jail officers resulting to the death of three officers and wounding of five others.
Senior Jail Officers Juan Dagay and Juan dela Cruz were declared dead on arrival when rushed to the nearby Sabili hospital in Bicutan.
Jail Officer I Amadeo Salapati who was rushed to Makati Medical Center was also declared dead by attending doctors while his companion Alberto Lubreo is still in a critical condition.
Razon said Alhamzer Manatad Limbong alias Kumander Kosovo led the bloody prison break attempt.
He said all 125 inmates holed up in four-storey prison building run by the Bureau of Jail Management of Penology are Abu Sayyaf members and among them are Ghalib Andang alias Kumander Robot and Nadzmie Saabdulah alias Kumander Global.
Kosovo's group demanded to talk to actor Robin Padilla and Hataman. Padilla is presently in Australia while Hataman is now inside the facility.
Hataman and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Governor Parouk Hussin were sought to end a standoff with an undetermined number of inmates who apparently joined the group and also grabbed weapons, police Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said.
PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao, newly installed Philippine National Police chief, said he had talked over the radio to a certain Ka Lando, leader of the inmates, who demanded that police cease firing at them.
Lomibao said he has received reports that some of the inmates have taken hostages inside the jail. He said he has instructed Razon to ensure the safety and security of any hostages taken by the inmates.
"We're going to assault these people if they don't turn over their weapons," police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil warned.
An armored personnel carrier moved in front of the steel-fenced detention center. Another was positioned outside the gate.
In a building across from the detention center, about two-dozen police took cover.
The al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf is notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages have been beheaded. A number of Abu Sayyaf suspects have managed to escape from jails.
Two years ago, a top terror suspect, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi, escaped from Manila police headquarters while serving a 12-year term for possession of explosives. He was killed in a shootout with police a few months later.
Last April, more than 50 inmates, led by suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, used a smuggled pistol to flee from a jail on southern Basilan island. In December, a Filipino suspect who was being interrogated about a bomb found on a bus was fatally shot at a Manila detention center after allegedly killing a guard.
Philippine jails are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff. (Sunnex with AP)
(March 14, 2005 issue)
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