‘DOJ warned BJMP of escape’

The foiled jailbreak in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig did not come as a surprise to prosecutors at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In fact, State Prosecutor Peter Medalle said the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) had been informed of the escape plan hatched by Abu Sayyaf detainees led by Alhamser Manatad Limbong as early as two to three weeks ago.

"We warned the jail guards that we received reports from sources in Manila and Mindanao that there was a planned attempt by Abu Sayyaf inmates to escape," Medalle said.

The DOJ even repeated the warning to the BJMP last week but, according to Medalle, "they simply ignored it."

Gappal Banna, alias Boy Negro, who earlier confessed to the DOJ his participation in the Valentine’s Day bombing in Makati City, said he was contacted by Limbong — also known as Kosovo — last December requesting him to deliver arms and ammunition to be used by the Abu Sayyaf detainees in Bicutan.

"Abu Solaiman also called me up informing me about the planned jailbreak. I was ordered to deliver guns and ammunition to Kosovo... I was ordered to give two caliber .45 pistols, 50 rounds of bullets contained in three boxes and four magazines to Abu Khalil for delivery to Kosovo. I’m not sure if it was delivered to him," Banna said.

Medalle said BJMP officials were then tasked to secure the jail in Bicutan, so they were aware that Kosovo’s group had been planning a jailbreak.

Medalle said he was also informed that Kosovo had contacted other Abu Sayyaf members, who are still freely roaming around Metro Manila, via cellular phone. They were asked to prepare eight safehouses for the escapees to use after the prison break.

The attempted jailbreak was not the first time for the Bicutan jail. In 2003, two Abu Sayyaf members, Omar and Eding Saylani, successfully bolted the prison dressed in abaya, or women’s Arabic clothes. The two are now in Jolo and one is suspected of having killed a photojournalist there last December.

Medalle said the kidnap-for-ransom and murder cases filed against Kosovo’s group had been scheduled for hearing yesterday at Branch 261 of the Pasig City regional trial court.

In past hearings, Medalle noted that BJMP jail guards had been lax in securing the Abu Sayyaf inmates while bringing them to court and while in court.

"They are handcuffed to each because they lack handcuffs. But the problem is that it can be easily opened with improvised plastic keys. If the guards are not that strict then they (the prisoners) can ask for assistance from outside," Medalle said.

For his part, State Prosecutor Leo Dacera said politicians should make the foiled jailbreak attempt a political issue. He added that Abu Sayyaf inmates should be confined in a single high-security prison "because they are violent criminals, violent terrorist criminals."

There are 136 Abu Sayyaf inmates in Bicutan, excluding members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

"Those who participated in the jailbreak are mostly charged in Basilan and Jolo kidnap-for-ransom cases," he said.

Dacera also stressed that cell phones should be strictly prohibited inside jail cells and authorities should stop granting so many amenities to high-risk inmates.

"We should realize that these are not ordinary pickpockets or kidnappers. They are motivated by a higher cause. They are armed and are dangerous," Dacera said.