MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections has confirmed that violence again erupted in the New Bilibid Prison earlier this week leaving one inmate dead and three injured.
In a message to reporters late Thursday night, BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said they were holding simultaneous operations at the maximum and medium security compounds earlier this week when the clash happened.
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“While searching at medium security compound, a fight broke out at one side… You cannot call that a riot. Two [Persons Deprived of Liberty] fought and others took sides. One was stabbed and died. There are three who were brought to the hospitals because they sustained injuries,” he added in Filipino.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also confirmed the incident, adding that the department is waiting for the full report from BuCor.
“We’ll act after we have read the full report. We already directed the BuCor months ago to take the appropriate measures to prevent these violent incidents,” he added.
Guevarra said BuCor conducted removal of PDLs’ gang affiliation tattoos and Oplan Galugad to search for and confiscate prohibited items, particularly weapons.
But the DOJ chief noted that “it seems that the proliferation of improvised weapons has not abated.”
The bureau conducted an Oplan Galugad on June 1 and seized several contrabands, including weapons. They confiscated 161 "Indian pana" darts, 21 slings, 38 pieces of "improvised pointed weapon", 92 pieces of "improvised bladed weapon" and two pieces of improved hacksaws.
Accountability of BuCor officers
Asked whether the justice department will continue the investigation looking into the liability of BuCor in deadly riots in the Bilibid, Guevarra said: “Yes, we intend to do so if we find the report unsatisfactory.”
Two deadly gang brawls erupted in Bilibid in the span of a month last year.
In October, nine people died after members of the Sputnik and Commando gangs clashed. A month later, a riot again erupted as the two gangs clashed, leaving three dead and 64 injured.
Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the incidents.
After the “free-for-all scuffle” happened in November, Guevarra said he ordered BuCor to conduct a deeper probe into the incident.
“What I want to know is how such a violent incident could happen in the wee hours of the morning and last for hours, and why the prison authorities failed to detect and prevent such a huge gang war that left many inmates dead or injured,” the DOJ chief said then.