Cops in Bicutan siege assured of legal help

Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said yesterday he does not believe the report of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which had accused police officials of murdering suspected Abu Sayyaf members during an attempted jailbreak at Bicutan in Taguig City last year.

Puno also said the DILG would provide full legal assistance to policemen cited in the "Bicutan siege" that lasted from March 13 to 14, saying they had merely done their duty based on the situation on the ground at the time.

"We will find lawyers to help defend our men in the PNP (Philippine National Police) who will be charged in connection with the incident. We do not believe in the assessment made by the CHR, as there was a hostage situation in the jail facility at the time," he said.

Puno also expressed dismay over the CHR’s findings that the incident was a "summary execution," saying that the hostage situation "did not look like a harmless exercise."

"I do not know the basis for the CHR saying there was no sufficient threat to warrant the use of force, but I am a little surprised (with) their findings," he said.

Puno also said the CHR had seemingly overlooked or failed to recognize the threat present at the time of the incident.

He said the National Police Commission would wait for the CHR to officially transmit its report before conducting its own investigation on the commission’s findings.

"I am eager to see (the CHR report) because it’s an important issue, we will study it and if they are correct, then the officers responsible will be held accountable. But if we do not agree with their findings, then we will tell them so," Puno said.

Earlier, the CHR recommending the filing of murder charges against PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, then-DILG chief Angelo Reyes and former PNP chief Edgar Aglipay, and the creation of a committee to investigate and determine the liability of the police units that repulsed the attempted jailbreak.

Reyes welcomed the CHR’s recommendation, saying that filing the case will "put to rest once and for all those unjustified speculations about alleged police abuses and excesses in the incident."

Reyes, as DILG chief, was in charge of preventing a mass escape attempt by prisoners from the detention area of Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.

"My conscience is clear. I did my duty — to uphold the law and protect society," said Reyes, a former AFP chief and defense secretary.

Reyes said a 25-year-old police officer and three jail guards were killed by the inmates, mostly members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, who tried to stage a mass escape from the prison camp.

The prison break began when two notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders, known as Commanders Kosovo and Global, grabbed the guns of their jail guards and killed two of them.

Reyes said the police special action team used reasonable force to subdue the inmates, many of whom were armed, after they refused to peacefully surrender during negotiations that lasted for nearly 48 hours.