AFP chief disappointed over escape of NPA leaders from Quezon jail

MANILA, Philippines - “Very disappointing." This was how Armed Forces chief Gen. Alexander Yano described on Monday the successful "rescue" of several high-profile New People’s Army rebels in last Saturday’s raid at the Quezon provincial jail in Lucena City by the detainees’ comrades. Yano said much effort has been spent to capture Gemma Carag, secretary of the Front Committee 42 of the communist movement’s Quezon Provincial Committee, and Cecilia Mondia, an organizer of the same rebel unit, only to be spirited out by their comrades while under police custody. The two - along with five other NPA guerillas - were rescued by at least 20 rebels who were clad in uniforms of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Unit and Special Weapons and Tactics of the PNP. The insurgents also carted away a number of firearms of the jail guards. “Considering that the we have exerted so much efforts in getting them and we have spent so much resources, invested resources in getting these people, I think we should be interested in making sure that there will be no similar incident will happen in the future," Yano said. “At the time they were already in jail, it could have been very incumbent on the agencies concerned, particularly the PNP, to take care of these high-value prisoners," he added. Yano said the military will be sitting down with concerned agencies and craft measures in order to thwart similar operations by the rebels. “We have to sit down so that appropriate measures can be undertaken… We have to take some proactive measures to ensure that the there will be no recurrence of the incident in the future," said Yano. Yano said taking care of such prisoners is not the job of the military. He said that once these rebels are apprehended, “we turn them over to appropriate agencies in the justice system “and they are the ones whose responsible" in their detention. The AFP chief said efforts by the Southern Luzon Command are underway to recapture the rescued rebels. “Immediately after the incident happened, the pursuit operations had been ongoing and it is continuing up to this time," said Yano. AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said: “We were disheartened upon hearing the news…The incident laid to waste years of careful planning, perilous operations and resources in capturing top NPA leaders in Quezon." Torres said it is “frustrating" that the jail officials did not take action although they were alerted for a potential attack. “Its frustrating to note that despite prior information on the possibility of the attack, not enough effort was undertaken to prevent the incident from happening," he said. “We take this as a wakeup call to strengthen our coordination with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Philippine National Police," said Torres, adding: "We expect that decisive actions will be undertaken to punish those who are liable and put an end to these recurring incidents." - GMANews.TV