ARMED men believed to be members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) attacked the district jail in North Cotabato on Wednesday in an effort to free some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), some of whom are notorious criminals, jail and military officials said.
The early-morning attack on North Cotabato District Jail at Barangay Amas in Kidapawan City by more than 100 heavily armed men resulted in the escape of at least 158 detainees, including members of the BIFF.
Supt. Peter John Bongngat, provincial jail warden of North Cotabato, said not all of the escapees were members of the two Moro groups, but ordinary detainees who took advantage of the incident to get away from the facility.
Maj. Gen. Rafael Valencia, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry “Agila” Division, said some of the escapees have been recovered as composite teams from the police, the military and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology carried out massive manhunt operations.
“Our troops are recovering escapees…have recovered some of them. We also encountered them [attackers] this morning. The report is still sketchy, but we engaged them this morning,” he said, adding that he had ordered soldiers in North Cotabato and the adjoining provinces to help in the manhunt in support of the police.
Valencia said the attackers have reached the operational jurisdiction of the Maguindanao-based Sixth Infantry “Kampilan” Division.
The armed men swooped down on the district jail, which holds some high-profile members of the MILF and the BIFF, at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, triggering a firefight with jail guards manning the facility.
One jail guard was killed during the attack.
Valencia said the facility, which is not far from the North Cotabato Police Headquarters, is keeping members of the MILF Special Operations Group and BIFF bandits.
He said the Armed Forces has already repositioned its troops in the province and has even sent helicopters, in case they are needed for the continuing manhunt operations.
“Actually, the battalion headquarters of [National Police] Special Action Force Battalion is there. The battalion headquarters of the RPSB [Regional Public Safety Battalion] is also there, so we have troops there. Initially, we also have a platoon [of soldiers] there and the Eastmincom has already sent air assets there,” Valencia said.
Bongngat said the North Cotabato District Jail is in a forested area and surrounded by a creek that also leads to the provincial police headquarters.
“We were attacked…the attackers came from the back side, in right side and the left side targeting our tower post,” he said, claiming the first burst of fire was aimed at the tower, which prompted jail personnel to descend.
“In front, we were defending the gate, main gate. This is the point of entry that we thought they are going to take, but we were hearing numerous gunshots coming from all sides,” he added.
In the middle of the firefight, the detainees escaped by using their beds as ladders. “This is not a typical jail building…dilapidated school building built in the early 1970s. It was a school compound converted into a district jail,” Bongngat said.
He added that they have already received reports about the plan to attack the facility, which was supposed to take place during the New Year revelry, and they prepared for it by even asking for augmentation forces from the police and the Army.
“We have a good security posture. Then it so happened yesterday or the other day that there was an important operation also by the Army, that is why they pulled out the added security,” Bongngat said.
He added that if the facility were a typical jail, no one could have escaped.