Transfer of 'high risk' detainees at North Cotabato jail sought

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Members of the Kidapawan City council have signed a resolution asking Malacañang and the judiciary to work out the immediate transfer to any detention facility in Metro Manila of all “high risk” detainees at the North Cotabato provincial jail.

Kidapawan City Vice Mayor Joseph Evangelista said they are worried of a repeat of Thursday’s attempt by Moro rebels to rescue their comrades detained at the provincial jail, which left a jail guard dead and three others, including the jail warden, wounded.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said the guerillas that attacked the jail were led by four commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Kamid Mangagta, Mong Balalay, Lex Ganih and Noel Pedtamanan, who are all wanted for heinous offenses.

Ranking officials of the police and military intelligence communities in Central Mindanao said there are 12 members of the MILF’s Special Operations Group detained at the North Cotabato provincial jail.

The 12 inmates – Ibrahim Sacandal, Kadaffy Saligan, Allan Hadji Gani, Tony Nur, Alex Tatukain Sanduyugan, Obping Kasulutan, Dalih Panamay, Samsudin Ayunan, Abdulbayan Ebra, Mansur Salih, Rommel Lumacob and Larry Antelino – were charged with drug trafficking, multiple murder, kidnapping, bombing and extortion charges.

Sacandal, also known as Jun Sarat, is one of the four founders of the dreaded Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang.

Sanduyugan, Saligan and Kasulutan, reputedly foreign-trained bombers, were implicated in recent deadly bombings in North Cotabato.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said soldiers and policemen are still in pursuit of the MILF rebels that raided the North Cotabato provincial jail.

Ponce said the armed groups that attempted to spring detained rebels from the facility belong to the MILF’s 108th Base Command.

Ponce said the militants who attacked the provincial jail belong to the same group that rescued detained foreign-trained bomb expert Datu Ali Sultan from the same jail two years ago.

More than 40 other inmates took advantage of that attack and bolted from their cells.

Sultan was said to have undergone training in bomb-making in Kandahar, Afghanistan in the early 1990s.

Evangelista, presiding chair of the Kidapawan City council, said Malacañang should promptly intervene on the threats of attacks on the North Cotabato provincial jail from militant Moro factions.