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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Death toll in Taguig jail crisis: 26
MANILA (5th Update, 1:30 p.m.) –- The number of fatalities in the two-day jail crisis in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, has gone up to 26, National Capital Region Police Director Avelino Razon said.
Twenty-one inmates including three top leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group linked to Al-Qaeda, were killed when police attacked the four-storey building earlier seized by the group of Alhamzer Manatad Limbong alias Kumander Kosovo
The dead Abu Sayyaf leaders were identified as Kosovo, Ghalib Andang alias Kumander Robot,Nadzmie Saabdulah alias Kumander Global and Hazdi Daie alias Ka Lando.
Their bodies together with the 17 other fatalities are still in the building and will be brought to the Crime Laboratory for autopsy before they will be buried. According to Muslim tradition their dead have to be buried within 24 hours.
The crisis began when suspected Abu Sayyaf members overpowered and stabbed their guards Wednesday, then took away their pistols and ammunition, Razon said. A shootout ensued, killing at least three guards and two Abu Sayyaf members, police said.
Police launched the assault operation at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday and end the 29-hour standoff with Moro bandits who took over a maximum-security jail in Taguig.
Sweat-soaked police marksmen filed out of the building after the assault to the applause of bystanders, escorting detainees stripped to their underwear and with hands clasped behind their heads.
Six officers were wounded in the assault, described by Senior
Supt. Benjamin Magalong as "scary."
They were Chief Inspector Jose Modequillo, Senior police officers Napoleon Cabrera and Saldy Caoile. The three others are still to be identified.
All of the SAF members suffered shrapnel injuries. Police believed that the Abu Sayyaf inmates were able to make homemade explosives while inside the detention center.
"The Abu Sayyaf had long firearms," Magalong said. "The fighting was intense."
The assault came after Reyes gave the inmates 15 minutes to surrender. A deal Monday to end the drama fell apart over the militants' demand for dinner.
"They refused to yield the firearms which they grabbed from the guards and turned down our calls and assurances for their safety, including the plea of our Muslim leaders," Reyes said. "The message is, anybody who tries something like this in the future will be dealt with in a similar fashion."
As the deadline passed, intense gunfire rang out at the prison compound. Police fired tear gas and officers and sharpshooters ran in and out of the main steel gates wearing gas masks.
Detainees were seen scaling down the walls inside the compound as thick smoke billowed out. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties.
"There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells," said police officer Napoleon Cabrera, who was leading an assault team that reached the third floor.
"Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke. I engaged one rebel with a pistol. He was shooting at me. I was hit in the leg. But I know he fell down," Cabrera told The Associated Press.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called to congratulate the forces "for a job well done" but lamented the casualties, Reyes said, though he added that the deaths were unavoidable. "We don't shoot innocent people," he said. "They were armed, they fired at us and we fired back."
The jail had about 425 suspects, including 129 suspected members and leaders Abu Sayyaf, notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages were beheaded.
Reyes also said they will conduct a thorough investigation on security procedures in the prison following the attempted escape by the detained Abu Sayyaf leaders and members.
He can't also be sure if all of the 17 unidentified fatalities participated in the jail uprising.
He appealed to the members of the media to give the police time to complete the clearing operations before the journalists can enter the prison building.
Talks bog down
A last-minute snag hampered efforts to end a standoff between police and a group of Abu Sayyaf inmates who snatched weapons from guards early Monday morning at a jail in Manila in a botched escape bid.
Negotiators had initially said the prisoners had agreed to surrender provided they were given media access and allowed to hold a press conference inside the jail.
Hours later the deal appeared to collapse when the inmates demanded dinner before ending the standoff.
Razon Jr. said the police would exhaust all possible means, including not giving food to the inmates, to end the standoff and were giving them until midnight to surrender.
The detainees earlier agreed to surrender only if their safety would be guaranteed. They had initially demanded a speedy trial of their cases and raised the lack of medicine in the jail among their complaints.
Mujiv Hataman, a Muslim congressman who tried to broker a deal, said it was "saddening" that the drama ended in more bloodshed.
"Even if they were criminals, they were still humans," he said.
"There should be due process of law, but this is what happened because they also went hardline."
Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by Abu Sayyaf members Limbong and Kair Abdul Gapar. Gapar is a kidnap-for-ransom suspect.
Tipped off
Newly designated PNP Chief Arturo Lomibao, who was deprived Monday of a formal installation as head of the national police force because of the standoff, was also overseeing events at the jail.
Police would launch a prison assault if necessary, said Lomibao, while waiting for outcome of the negotiations.
State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who is handling several cases involving the Abu Sayyaf, told reporters that jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago because of an intercepted mobile phone conversation between Limbong and Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman.
"We warned them repeatedly...as late as last week of the planned escape. Apparently, our warnings were ignored," he said.
Gappal Bannah Asali, a suspect in the Valentine's Day bus bombing in Makati City, said the Abu Sayyaf inmates had planned the escape as early as December last year.
He said that in December Limbong called him and ordered him to meet with a woman who would smuggle a .45 pistol in the camp. "Now I am thinking that the pistol was for this (jailbreak)," he said.
Several Abu Sayyaf suspects have escaped from Philippine jails, which are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff.
State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who handles Abu Sayyaf cases, said jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago after an intercepted mobile phone call.
"We warned them repeatedly," he said. "Apparently, our warnings were ignored." (Sunnex and Sunnex Luzon/AP)
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