NPAs free 7 comrades in daring attack on jail

LUCENA CITY, Quezon –- Communist guerrillas, disguised as government anti-narcotics agents, infiltrated the provincial jail here and freed seven of their comrades being held for murder, authorities said.

Capt. Lea Santiago, spokesperson for the military’s Southern Luzon Command, said 30 heavily armed New People’s Army (NPA) rebels initially introduced themselves as agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) before entering the Quezon Provincial Jail.

Santiago said the rebels, who were all dressed in black uniforms with PDEA and SWAT markings emblazoned on their shirts, managed to surprise the jail guards late Saturday before disarming them and locking them up.

The rebels then proceeded to spring out their comrades in a 15-minute attack without firing a shot.

Quezon police director Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas said two policemen and two civilians were wounded after the rebels threw grenades and fired at lawmen at a police checkpoint in Barangay Iyam.

Posadas identified the wounded lawmen as Senior Police Officer 1 (SPO1) Florencio Envase and PO1 Darwin Japor. The two civilians were identified as Daryl Javier and Marlon Santos.

Gov. Rafael Nantes immediately ordered the relief of provincial jail warden Archimedes Mortiz and deputy warden Maximo Manalo for security lapses that allowed the rebels to easily enter the prison.

The rebels seized four pistols from the guards during the prison break in. Four vans they used in the escape have been found abandoned here, officials said.

Santiago added that among the seven freed prisoners, two are women facing murder and rebellion charges.

Except for one, most of them are tagged as ranking officials of the NPA operating in Southern Luzon, she said.

Santiago identified the escapees as Gemma Carag, secretary of the Kilusang Larangan Guerilla (KLG) 42, Komite sa Probinsya-Quezon (KOMPROB), Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee (STRPC); Cecilia Mondia, Grupong Pang-organisa (GP), KLG 42, KOMPROB; Noel Santos, secretary of KLG General Headquarters; Gerson Carabio, platoon leader of Sentro de Grabidad ng KLG 42; Fernando Tawagon, platoon leader of AKL Plager; Arnold Valencia, member of SYP Rivas, Komite sa Platoon (KSPN).

Rogelio Monteverda, the seventh escapee, is facing murder charges.

Santiago said authorities have yet to determine why the NPA rebels also freed Monteverda.

“The main objective of the NPAs is to set free their comrades especially Gemma Carag and two others who will testify on the veracity of what was contained in the recovered laptop when they were arrested on June 24, 2008 at Barangay Tagbakin in Atimonan, Quezon,” Santiago said.

Imminent prison break

According to Posadas, he had foreseen the possibility that the jail would be attacked.

He said about 25 of the prison’s 50 guards and the deputy warden were in Manila to attend a seminar, considerably weakening the provincial jail’s defenses at the time of the attack.

“The guards would not have been overwhelmed if they did not open the gates just like that when the disguised rebels appeared to seek custody of some inmates,” Posadas said.

Posadas revealed that prior to the jailbreak, he conducted a security survey on the facility and recommended the deployment of additional personnel on intelligence information that an attack was imminent.

“They didn’t listen to my recommendations, in fact, the jail warden allowed his 25 men to attend a seminar in Manila,” Posadas said.

Posadas said their initial investigation revealed 10 NPA rebels, who were disguised as PDEA agents, showed up and pretended to turn over a prisoner in their custody to prison guards.

He said the guards did not even bother to ask for any judicial commitment order authorizing the turnover of a prisoner.

“This allowed the rebels to gain entry,” Posadas said.

Posadas said they are now checking out the hospitals in the city after investigators saw blood stains inside the four vans separately abandoned by the rebels in Sariaya, Lucena and Pagbilao.

“I am sure that some of the rebels were wounded during the exchange of gunfire with the lawmen. The abandoned vans were riddled with bullet holes,” Posadas said.

The military, on the other hand, arrested a couple said to be top leaders of the NPA in Southern Tagalog region.

Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) said Donato Palo-Navia and his wife Margie Lupo were arrested by military intelligence operatives in Labrador, Pangasinan last Friday.

Navia is allegedly the commanding officer of the NPA’s Task Force Quezon while his wife Margie is working as the secretary of the NPA’s guerrilla front committee 42, covering the Bondoc Peninsula.

The military said the couple was on board a sports utility van with government license plates when they were intercepted by the military in Labrador. The vehicle is reportedly assigned to a local official of Sto. Tomas, Batangas. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Michelle Zoleta, Non Alquitran, Ed Amoroso, Ding Cervantes