PNP warned of Batangas jail raid but failed to beef up security

The Philippine National Police had received intelligence reports earlier this month of a planned attack by the New People’s Army, PNP Deputy Director for directorial staff Isidro Lapeña said in the wake of the weekend jailbreak by NPA rebels aided by their comrades in Batangas.

"There was an indication prior to the incident, but it did not say when and where," Lapeña said yesterday at a forum at the Manila Hotel.

"Something happened in Batangas (provincial jail), the intelligence was correct," he said.

While the PNP took the necessary precautions and was prepared, it failed to fully secure the provincial facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Batangas City, which is under the supervision of the local government, Lapeña said.

"We will work for better coordination (between) the police and the local government" as a result of the jailbreak, he said.

Lapeña added that the PNP must determine the exact time the BJMP personnel alerted the police about the detainees’ escape because, "by the time the police were able to react, the fugitives were already long gone. We will know the lapses so we can improve the system."

He made this statement two days after rebels, disguised as Army soldiers, set free nine left-wing detainees from the Batangas Provincial Jail.

Lapeña also said the latest series of NPA attacks might have been an offshoot of the failed peace talks with the rebel group.

He recalled that Communist Party of the Philippines chairman and NPA founder Jose Maria Sison had reportedly vowed to step up the communist rebels’ actions against the government. The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP.

Follow-up operations conducted by joint PNP and AFP operatives led to the recapture of two of the escaped prisoners, while one of the escapees reportedly surrendered to authorities.

The PNP and AFP operatives have activated their dragnet operations and an air force unit was able to immediately pinpoint the NPA’s temporary hideout, where law enforcers found six sacks of ammonium nitrate, several blasting caps and a detonating cord.

In the wake of the Batangas jailbreak, the PNP announced that there was a six-percent reduction in the number of communist rebels from 2004 to last year.

Lapeña said at the same forum that, "based on (PNP) statistics, there was a six-percent reduction in the number of combatants and our efforts are still continuing against the NPA. President Arroyo has directed us to conduct an intensified operation against the NPA."

He also said there are actually more "success stories" in the sustained PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) operations against insurgency, though these stories were not reported by the media.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil added that the NPA has always opposed the chief executive, whoever he or she may be: "Let us not forget that the CPP-NPA strategies — regardless of the administration — they will still push for a takeover of the government. They are now thinking of various ways and means to attain that status — to get more (fire)arms and create scenarios."