COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo yesterday awarded with citations 27 firemen and jail personnel and a barangay tanod (watchman) for thwarting an attempt by some 50 armed men to rescue bandit Datukan Samad from the Kidapawan City jail last Sunday.
Three people were killed while 16 others were wounded in the attack. The armed men, after failing to breach the gates of the Kidapawan jail, fired B-40 anti-tank rockets on buildings around the facility and set off improvised explosives as they fled from the scene.
The awarding rites, held in Kidapawan City, was witnessed by local officials led by Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco.
Samad is one of 16 “high risk” inmates at the Kidapawan jail who local officials wanted transferred to detention facilities outside North Cotabato.