6 hurt in foiled jailbreak

Armed with knives and sharpened toothbrushes, six inmates allegedly ganged up and stabbed a jail guard in an apparent attempt to bolt the Pasig City Jail Wednesday afternoon.

Although wounded, jail guard JO1 Sherwin Guffud managed to draw his gun, alert his fellow jail guards and shot and wounded five of the six inmates, who landed in the hospital instead.

Investigation revealed Gaffud suffered stab wounds in the chest and other parts of the body when the six inmates ganged up on him and tried to grab his service firearm.

Responding policemen led by Pasig City police chief, Superintendent John Sosito, brought Gaffud to the nearby hospital where he was declared out of danger.

Sosito identified the five wounded inmates as Marjon Pante, 22; Joel Dabon, 29; Bobby Imperial, 40; Herminigildo Panibe, 25, and Manuel Malto. They are now being treated at the Rizal Medical Center.

Their sixth companion, Renan Mina, who is facing robbery charges, was not hurt during the foiled escape attempt.

Pante was charged with car theft, Dabon for illegal possession of prohibited drugs, Imperial for robbery with frustrated homicide and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, Panibe for rape and Malto for robbery and car theft.

Sosito said Gaffud was manning his post at the gate of the second floor of the visiting area of the jail located in Barangay Nagpayong when Pante appeared from behind and about 2:30 p.m. Without a word, Pante grabbed Gaffud by the neck and tried to snatch his caliber .45 automatic pistol tucked on his waist.

The five other inmates, brandishing bladed weapons and sharpened toothbrushes, soon joined Pante.

While Gaffud and Pante were grappling for possession of the gun, Dabon stabbed the guard repeatedly in the chest and in the head using a knife.

But Gaffud still managed to drew his gun and shot Dabon five times in the chest. He also shot Pante in the foot.

He aimed again the gun at Dabon and squeezed the trigger, but his gun jammed. The other inmates soon managed to disarm Gaffud.

The gunshots attracted the attention of JO3 Fernan Sunga, the jail’s desk officer at the ground floor of the facility. With his gun drawn, Sunga rushed upstairs to help Gaffud. Imperial was about to stab Gaffud when Sunga shot him with his caliber .38 revolver.

At gunpoint, Sunga then ordered the inmates to lie face down on the floor while his companion JO1 Norman Talania called for police assistance.

When Sosito, accompanied by elements of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) arrived several minutes later, the jail break attempt was already thwarted. – Non Alquitran