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Armed men attack Cotabato jail; 158 inmates escape


A total of 158 inmates escaped from the North Cotabato District Jail (NCDJ) after a two-hour firefight when more than a hundred armed men attacked the facility early Wednesday morning.

The jail facility's officials initially reported that 132 inmates escaped.

In an interview, NCDJ officer-in-charge Superintendent Peter Bongat told GMA News TV's News To Go that they learned of the actual number of inmates who escaped after conducting a headcount.

He said they had 21 jail personnel guarding a total of 1,511 inmates at the time of the attack.

Bongat said at least three of the escaped inmates have been captured in the ongoing manhunt operations.

A radio dzBB report said one jail guard identified as Jail Officer 1 Excell Ray Vecido was killed while an inmate was injured in the incident.

Bongat said in an earlier interview that armed men attacked the facility in Barangay Amas at past 1 a.m.

He said during the News To Go interview that as they were busy fighting off the more than 100 armed attackers and extricating the body Vecido, the inmates were able to climb the walls of the prison facility by converting their beds as ladders.

Bongat said a certain Commander Derby, leader of an alleged breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, led the attack.

In an earlier interview with Arnold Clavio on "Unang Balita," Bongat said the NCDJ has many high-profile inmates.

BIFF inmates

Felix Capalla, one of the leaders of the inmates at the NCDJ, identified the slain jail guard as Jail Officer 1 Excell Ray Vecido.

Capalla said the armed men, clad in black suits and armed with high-powered firearms, rescued prisoners who are mostly members of the 105th Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, among them the Camayo brothers, both facing murder charges, and the Salik brothers who are charged with drug trafficking.

Capalla, known among NCDJ inmates as the ‘chief expediter,’ disclosed that even before the attack, he already tipped Bongat of the plan to rescue the BIFF members.

“I gave him (Bongat) an information that some of the inmates have told us to prepare for rescue and escape. This was last December 31. I saw additional troops deployed in the area from December 31 up to January 1.  But after that, I saw few people manning the jail, then came the attack,” said Capalla.

Two-hour firefight

In a press statement, Senior Insp. Xavier Solda, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson, said the incident happened at 1:15 a.m.

He said the inmates took the opportunity to escape through the back portion of the facility while the rest of the personnel were retaliating to hold their ground and to protect other inmates.

"The firefight lasted for two hours," he said.

He said there is now an ongoing clearing operations by the Special Action  Force (SAF) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) together with the BJMP Special Tactics and  Response (STAR) Team within the jail vicinity and the surrounding area.

"All BJMP units in Region 12 and nearby provinces remain on heightened alert," he added.

A separate report from Cotabato provincial police office said Vicedo was wounded in his right chest and was immediately brought to Provincial Hospital, Amas, Kidapawan City for treatment but declared dead at 3:36 a.m.

It said they received report that unidentified armed men were harassing NCDJ and they coordinated with the AFP counterparts and alerted the neighboring police stations to conduct blocking force on the possible route of the escaping inmates.

It said the policemen of Cotabato PPO, Cotabato PPSC and PNP SAF immediately conducted Camp Defense Plan and then prepared the troops for reinforcement. — with Malu Manar and Amita Legaspi/BAP/ALG/RSJ, GMA News

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