Gov wants jail warden sacked for jail mismanagement

NORTH COTABATO --- The acting governor of North Cotabato has recommended the replacement of the provincial jail warden after this week’s jailbreak that shook the province to its core.
The request was by channeled by Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva, officer-in-charge of the provincial government, to Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno.

A copy of the written request was obtained by NDBCNews on Saturday.The letter was addressed to Sueno since he exercises ministerial control over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Gunmen attacked the North Cotabato provincial jail in Kidapawan City on midnight Tuesday and set free ten cohorts implicated in deadly bombings in the province, causing the escape of more than a hundred more inmates. The acting governor told Sueno there was apparent mismanagement of the provincial jail by its warden, Supt. Peter Bongngat Jr.
Macasarte-Villanueva, also acting as chairperson of the inter-agency provincial peace and order council, said Bongat has to be replaced to pave the way for an impartial inquiry on the incident.Provincial officials are planning to initiate an extensive evaluation of the condition of the jail to determine measures that can stave off a repeat of the attack on midnight Tuesday that resulted in a jailbreak.It was the third assault on the facility in about a decade.Moro guerillas twice raided the same jail early on and set free detained companions being prosecuted for a series of bombings in different North Cotabato towns.

Supt. Joyce Birrey, spokesperson of the North Cotabato provincial police, on Saturday said 10 of the 158 inmates who escaped from the jail this week were killed by pursuing Army and police teams for resisting arrest.Birrey said 43 others were arrested and returned to the provincial jail in Kidapawan City with the help of local executives and barangay officials in nearby towns.Birrey said more than 20 of the captured escapees were found hiding in a rice farm in Kabacan town in North Cotabato by a combined team of policemen and soldiers led by Mayor Herlo Guzman.Sources from Army intelligence units said on Saturday that they are now validating information relayed by tipsters purporting that three of those set free during the jail raid are nephews of the late Imam Ameril Ombra Kato, founder the the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Some of our informants are active members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said an officer, who asked not to be identified owing to the risky nature of his undercover assignment.The officer, who is a lieutenant-colonel in the Philippine Army, said the three detainees, whose names he declined to reveal pending further validation, were detained in connection with their involvement in deadly bomb attacks.A provincial official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said he has also been receiving information from constituents asserting that one of the three men is, in fact, a son of Kato. But we are still confirming this information from our friends in the local communities, the source said.

The beleaguered Bongngat, now subject of criticisms on Facebook and circulating text messages, earlier said the gunmen who attacked the jail were led by Commander Derbi of the BIFF.Derbi was once a detainee for bombing and murder charges but he escaped in August last year thus he was familiar with the jail compound. In order to provide an objective atmosphere in our intention to look deeply into the surrounding circumstances of the said incident, I am respectfully requesting that JSupt. Peter Bongngat Jr. temporarily vacate his position and an officer-in-charge be designated for the meantime, she said in a report published in Mindanews, an on line news organization.Mindanews also quoted Sec. Sueno as saying that the motive of the attack was to rescue four Moro inmates but the attackers failed. They wanted four inmates out but the four remained locked up in their cells, Sueno told Mindanews.As of posting, it was not clear if Bongngat vacated his post or was relieved by Sec. Sueno.