Leonidez Ipis, a convicted robber who was admitted to the NBP on Nov. 14, 2001, was shot dead by officers of the prison’s Special Operations Group at around 8:30 a.m. at the dam of the agro-industrial field of penitentiary.
NBP Superintendent Juanito Leopando said Ipis was working on the field when he suddenly made a mad dash to escape when no prison guards were watching.
The other inmates working on the field notified the prison guards, who then chased Ipis.
SOG officers inside the administration building at the maximum security compound also responded and found the inmate near the dam, Leopando said.
Ipis, who was armed with an improvised bladed weapon, swam to the opposite direction to elude the responding officers despite a warning shot fired by the officers, prompting them to shoot.
"Buti na lang at natiyempuhan ng mga tauhan natin dito. Kasi kung nakatakas yun, siguradong gagawa na naman ng krimen yun. Desperado yung mga ganyang tipo," Leopando told The STAR in an interview.
The inmate sustained several gunshot wounds in different parts of the body and was declared dead on arrival at the nearby hospital where he was taken.
The NBP official defended the action taken by the responding officers, saying they did their job "to prevent him from escaping."
"We would not allow any inmate to escape because a jailbreak means disrespect to justice," he said.
An investigation is being conducted.
"Actually, we don’t know what actually drove him to escape. We will still investigate, but I am sure it had nothing to do with the way he was treated here because we have good programs for all inmates," Leopando said.
He added that the operatives followed the proper procedure and that "those kind of desperate inmates deserve such fate."
Leopando stressed that despite the lack of ample jail guards at the national penitentiary to monitor all 18,000 inmates, they are well trained to deal with jailbreak situations.