Convict holds woman hostage in Bilibid

MANILA, Philippines - A man serving a 17-year sentence for parricide held hostage a female employee of an electronics factory in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City yesterday.

Dennis Gonzaga, 37, was armed with an improvised four-inch knife when he barged into the factory’s office and took the 34-year-old employee hostage at around noon, NBP officer-in-charge Superintendent Celso Bravo said. Gonzaga is a worker at the factory, which provides livelihood training to inmates. The factory is located in the NBP’s medium security compound.

“The convict was demanding to see his sister who was in Laguna. We fetched the sister and the hostage-taker surrendered,” he said.

Bravo said NBP chaplain Msgr. Roberto Olaguer initiated the negotiation. Gonzaga released the victim unharmed two hours later, he said.

When Gonzaga surrendered, he was brought to the NBP hospital to determine his state of mind.

According to the results of an initial investigation, a fellow prisoner had been bullying Gonzaga, who believes that other convicts were courting his wife during visitation hours.

Bravo said Gonzaga will be charged for the hostage-taking while “other convicts who were involved in the bullying will also be meted administrative sanctions.”