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MAXIMUM SECURITY CONCERN The commandos rush into the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid prison in the city of Muntinlupa to break up the Monday morning riot between two rival gangs that left three inmates dead and more than 60 injured. —PHOTO OF BUCOR PIO
MANILA, Philippines – A truce between warring gangs at New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City failed on Monday, resulting in renewed violence that left at least three inmates dead and another 64 injured.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said a wrestling broke out at the maximum security complex of the national penitentiary at 8:39 a.m. after a member of the Sigue Sigue Commando gang was stabbed by another inmate.
“It started only with small groups, who retaliated [against each other when attacked]. Then the violence grew, ”said BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclag.
The police called
Chaclag said Special Weapons and Tactics agents were deployed to quell the violence, but were met with gunfire, forcing the office to call police for reinforcements.
Officers from the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, the National Capital Region Police Office and the Fire Protection Office arrived to help the BuCor security force break up the riot.
The BuCor said the riot was contained around 10 a.m., but clean-up operations only ended just before evening.
Chaclag did not identify the other gang involved, but Bilibid sources said it was Follow Follow Sputnik, which clashed with the Follow Follow Command in Bilibid Quadrant 4 on October 9. Nine inmates died in that riot and seven were injured.
The BuCor had yet to identify those killed in Monday’s riot, all members of the Sputnik gang. Chaclag said six injured inmates were being treated at Muntinlupa ng Hospital.
In a press release, the BuCor said it would discipline the inmates responsible for the outbreak of violence.
He said office staff who were in their offices at the height of the unrest were evacuated.
The office, however, had no response when asked how the inmates obtained firearms. “It will be part of the investigation,” Chaclag said.
He said that Bilibid and six other prison farms and penal colonies in the country were placed on high alert to “ensure peace and order” after the second deadly confrontation between rival gangs at the national penitentiary.
NBI probe order
The Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevarra, ordered the National Investigation Office to investigate Monday’s riot in Bilibid.
Guevarra said the Department of Justice (DOJ), which oversees the BuCor, would also investigate the possible liability of Bilibid and BuCor officials for failing to prevent disturbances at the national penitentiary.
“These BuCor officials should have learned a lesson from the previous violent incident where several [prisoners] they were killed, ”Guevarra said in a Viber message.
“The DOJ has directed BuCor to submit a detailed report [immediately]. I will direct the NBI to carry out a parallel investigation or expand its ongoing investigation into the previous violence, ”he said.
The department also ordered the NBI to press charges against all those involved and responsible for the riots.
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) sent a team to investigate the causes of the violence.
HRC spokeswoman Jacqueline Ann de Guia urged authorities to determine the cause of the unrest and to adopt ways to resolve the conflict between inmates to prevent violence from flare up again.
Peace measures failed
The measures implemented by BuCor after the October 9 riots failed to prevent another clash between rival gangs in Bilibid, which may hold 6,435 prisoners but is home to almost 29,000.
On October 13, four days after the first riot, CEO Gerald Bantag, the head of BuCor, negotiated a truce between the bands Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Sigue Sigue Commando.
The leaders of the two groups, Bantag said, “assured that the fight would never happen again.”
On October 28, the BuCor brought in tattoo artists to remove the marks of 217 prisoners: 120 in Bilibid, 60 in the Correctional Institution for Women in the city of Mandaluyong and 37 in the San Ramón Prison and Penal Farm in the city of Zamboanga.
Bantag said removing the tattoos would prevent rival gang members from identifying with each other.
RED ALERT commandos secure an inmate after another riot broke out between two warring gangs in the maximum security compound of New Bilibid Prison Monday morning. —PHOTO OF BUCOR PIO
There are 12 bands in Bilibid, the largest of which is Sigue Sigue Sputnik, with 4,474 members; Genuine Ilocano (2,887) and Batang City Jail (2,326).
According to BuCor’s records, 2,307 inmates in the maximum security compound are “querna” or are not affiliated with any gang.
Gang culture
Studies have found that the gang culture in Bilibid is the result of the government’s inability to provide vital services to inmates.
Gangs are considered important social structures in prisons, as they provide protection, financial support, and an appearance of family among members.
The informal system of self-government among the gangs, a holdover from the American colonial era, has also proven to be an integral part of maintaining peace in overcrowded and understaffed prisons.
In December 2018, under Bantag’s predecessor Nicanor Faeldon, the BuCor negotiated a peace pact between 12 gangs, including Sputnik and Commando. The agreement signed by the gang leaders included the abolition of the gangs.
However, that pact failed to prevent the riots on October 9. The measures taken by Bantag also failed to prevent the violence on Monday.
–WITH A REPORT FROM MARLON RAMOS INQ
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