Arnold Clavio
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00:00On the morning of March 14, 2005, several members of Abu Sayyaf escaped from their prison.
00:15Even though they were not arrested, they were forced to stay in their house for more than a day.
00:22The police negotiated for 28 hours until the rebels were able to break in.
00:42Twenty-two of the rebels were killed.
00:45Even though the rebels were able to escape, authorities took action to break in.
00:56They claim that this is an overkill.
00:59I'm your host, Arnold Clavio.
01:01Yesterday's questions will be answered in this episode of Case Unclosed.
01:15Terrorists, if you will call them.
01:23Commander Kosovo,
01:25Moyser Tilao,
01:27Calando,
01:29Commander Robot,
01:31and Commander Global.
01:33They are members of the group Abu Sayyaf.
01:36The Sipatan Hostage Crisis,
01:39Guillermo Sobero's headshot,
01:42Super Ferry Bombing,
01:45and the murder of Gracian Martin Bernham at Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan.
01:51These are just some of the cases they are involved in.
01:56Here inside the Special Intensive Care Area or SICA,
01:59Commander Kosovo,
02:01Bas Ismael,
02:02Moyser Tilao,
02:03and Calando helped while waiting for their investigation.
02:08The SICA is located in Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Pagundiwa in Bicutan
02:13where high-risk offenders are jailed.
02:16This is where their plan to escape to was formed on March 14, 2005.
02:34Ranchero or Jail Aide is called Ampaho Halal Makarambon,
02:39alias Muslim.
02:41He was assigned this morning to deliver food to the prisoners in SICA.
02:47The prisoners in SICA are considered to be dangerous,
02:50so they are given food.
03:10Commander Kosovo went down to their cells
03:13and opened other cells in SICA.
03:19Alhamser Limbong, alias Commander Kosovo,
03:22is assigned by the police to lead the escape of the prisoners from SICA.
03:27Bas Ismael is said to have killed and shot one of the jail guards.
03:36Kosovo is a lower-ranking prisoner.
03:38If you look at the hierarchy,
03:41the one at advantage is Robot,
03:43because Robot is the head of the group in the cell.
03:49One year with Commander Kosovo,
03:52the ASG leader, Commander Robot, is known.
03:59They shot the guards.
04:02One of the guards was arrested,
04:04Jail Officer Juan Cashmer-Husin.
04:06They stole Commander Kosovo's gun.
04:10He was shot,
04:12and then he took his gun,
04:14but since he was a fellow Muslim, he didn't take it.
04:23After this,
04:25Kosovo's group went to the three jail officers
04:28who were guarding the desk officer area.
04:32At that time, the jail guards who were overpowered,
04:34they were on extended duty.
04:37Maybe because they were tired,
04:40they were sleepy,
04:42so they were resting.
04:44Their attention was weak.
04:47The guards were no longer able to fight the rebels.
04:51While Commander Kosovo was on his way to the desk officer area,
04:57they were killed by the jail aide, Danny Lindo,
05:00but he was still able to escape through the main gate
05:02of the Metro Manila District Jail
05:05to ask for help.
05:08Even though there was no backup,
05:10Senior Jail Officer 4, Edgar Tahay,
05:14quickly responded to the assault of Commander Kosovo,
05:17but he wasn't able to withdraw his service firearm.
05:23This is where the chaos started.
05:26The jail officers responded,
05:28but the gunfire was interrupted.
05:32Two of Commander Kosovo's men were killed by the gunfire.
05:44Commander Kosovo was forced to retreat inside the cell.
05:48The others retreated,
05:50but the three jail guards who were guarding the desk officer area
05:53were left behind.
05:55The three jail guards who were left behind,
05:57who were overpowered,
05:59at the gate of their cell,
06:01they were probably angry
06:04because they were killed right away.
06:07They weren't able to escape completely.
06:11And that's where the security guards,
06:14I mean the jail guards, were shot.
06:15They were charged.
06:23The jail guards were prepared to attack.
06:32At 9 in the morning,
06:34the PNP Special Action Force, or SAF,
06:37arrived outside the Metro Manila District Jail.
06:40There was an initial negotiation
06:42between Abu Sayyaf and the PNP personnel.
06:50When we arrived,
06:52we took over the negotiation.
06:54I would like to emphasize
06:56that these are a group of terrorists
06:59and hardened criminals,
07:01and dangerous.
07:03That's why we are not going to think twice
07:07if necessary to launch the final option.
07:09Commander Cosobo's group
07:11assigned their conditions to the negotiators.
07:17They told me,
07:19like the speedy disposition of their cases,
07:22the restoration of their rights,
07:25and assurance that they will not be harmed
07:29if they are released.
07:33And the last one, the media interview.
07:36Preferably with a TV network.
07:41It's one way that they will be able to air
07:45what they really are.
07:47Because although they will release their complaints
07:52to their occasional visitors,
07:57there is no assurance that they will be noticed
08:01or given to the right people.
08:03Their perception was that there was a delay.
08:07Delay.
08:09Like they were doing it on purpose.
08:12At 5 p.m.,
08:14Abu Sayyaf promised to surrender.
08:19But when the time came,
08:21neither Commander Cosobo
08:23nor any member of his group surrendered.
08:26The PNP gave them more time to pray.
08:31I hope that in their prayer,
08:34there will be light in their minds
08:37that what they are doing
08:40is something that should be resolved.
08:47There are new demands.
08:49First, the PNP said that
08:51they will ask for the interview again.
08:54Then later on,
08:56they asked for food and water.
08:59We think that they are just delaying us.
09:04They are just playing with us.
09:06These people really have no intention of surrendering.
09:12The whole night passed.
09:14The authorities of the PNP
09:16tried to convince the negotiators again,
09:19the group of Cosobo.
09:21Landong,
09:23get out of there.
09:25Let's finish this.
09:27Well, the negotiating team will go back
09:29and try to exhaust all means possible
09:31to come up with a peaceful solution.
09:33That's what we are saying.
09:35But of course,
09:37the government is running out of patience.
09:39The PNP said that
09:41they will try to convince the negotiators again.
09:43But of course,
09:45the government is running out of patience.
09:47There were instructions
09:49to the other inmates
09:51not to strip.
09:53They will only leave their briefs
09:56so that the police officers
09:58will easily see that they don't have firearms
10:01after stripping
10:04to lie down on the floor.
10:06So that it's a signal
10:08that they will not fight.
10:10At 9 o'clock the next day,
10:12a 15-minute non-extendable deadline
10:15was given
10:17by DING Secretary Angelo Reyes
10:19for the rebels to surrender.
10:21But the Abu Sayyafs resisted.
10:26After the deadline,
10:28a go-signal was given to Secretary Reyes
10:30to surrender the Abu Sayyafs
10:32to the police.
10:41Special Action Forces
10:43attacked the SICA.
10:49After almost two hours,
10:51the police and help returned.
10:56The SICA also held the rebels
10:58for twenty-eight hours.
11:05Kosovo and Robod
11:08are already
11:10dead.
11:12After shooting it out
11:14with our operating units.
11:16Twenty-two Abu Sayyafs
11:18were killed by gunfire
11:20including their leaders,
11:22Commander Kosovo,
11:24Commander Robod,
11:26and Commander Global.
11:28Although the rebels' plan
11:30to escape was successfully stopped,
11:32the police and help
11:34of the members of the Abu Sayyafs
11:36was successful.
11:41After the escape of the Abu Sayyafs
11:43from the maximum security prison,
11:45more than one hundred police responded.
11:59A fight broke out
12:01between the PNP Special Action Force
12:03and the rebels.
12:10The rebels were able to escape
12:12and more than one hundred people
12:14were injured and injured
12:16in the middle of the fight.
12:21We were hoping that
12:23they would not be injured there
12:25because they have nothing to do with it.
12:27It is not yet confirmed
12:29that the rebels
12:31were killed by the PNP Special Action Force.
12:33The PNP Special Action Force
12:35is the only organization
12:37that has been able to
12:38fight against the PNP Special Action Force.
12:40It is not yet confirmed
12:42that the PNP Special Action Force
12:44was killed by the PNP Special Action Force
12:46because until now,
12:48we have not been able to return.
12:50According to the Commission of Human Rights or CHR,
12:52the police did a fight
12:54for the rights of the refugees.
12:56Our prisoners,
12:58under international standards,
13:00are entitled to be treated
13:02with humanity
13:04and respect for human dignity.
13:06The PNP Special Action Force
13:08is the only organization
13:10that has been able to fight
13:12against the PNP Special Action Force.
13:14According to their investigation,
13:16the victims were killed
13:18during a summary execution
13:20during a raid
13:22at Camp Bagong Tiwa.
13:24There was an overkill,
13:26there was a use of excessive force.
13:28Those who should not have died
13:30or got injured
13:33If what my clients told me is true, when I talked to them, they were asked their names and it looks like there's a list of the guns that entered.
13:47And if your name happened to be in that list, you will be shot. You will be stabbed and your hand will be tied at the back.
13:55Just like the abusive leader, Commander Global.
13:58According to the CHR, this is part of the escape plan of Commander Kosovo.
14:04According to the CHR, this is part of the escape plan of Commander Kosovo.
14:12This is a heinous crime that can be considered as blasphemy to the people.
14:18That should be considered as extrajudicial killing scheme.
14:22And that's the worst kind because the people who were killed are in jail.
14:26Extrajudicial because there has been no court order directing the authorities to kill them.
14:38The international human rights groups eventually left because it was proven that there was an attempted escape.
14:48They were ready to kill people. They actually engaged in gun battle with the jail guards and the police officers.
14:59According to the Crisis Management Committee, the number of people killed is low compared to the 50 people killed by the assault team.
15:07Estimating the number of people killed is already something wrong with that kind of premise or with that kind of mentality.
15:19The target in any operations is that either no one should be killed or just very minimal.
15:27But the defense of the government, the abusers are very dangerous.
15:32Three jail guards were mercilessly and cold-bloodedly gunned down.
15:40Because of the anger of the suspected abusers that they were not able to escape, they were harmless.
15:46They were not any threat to them. They could have just let them go.
15:49But then, they made sure that they were killed.
15:54Even assuming that some of them were killed, there are ways to neutralize a particular situation.
16:04Give them first the chance to surrender and then if they don't want to surrender,
16:12the target is not to liquidate or execute them, but just to neutralize, immobilize or disable.
16:20Atty. Calleja, a lawyer for the killed members of Abusayap, also believes that the rebels were targeted by the police.
16:29One theory that is coming out is that they wanted to get rid of some people inside.
16:38So they were forced to do that.
16:41The presentation of evidence for the prosecution is coming to an end.
16:46It would seem that they wanted to silence some people, especially if they would start presenting evidence for the defense.
16:53Maybe these people know that they should not be released.
16:59The Crisis Management Committee defended that the group is in the right place to carry out the assault.
17:08These are diehard suspected abusers. They are really fighting.
17:13I don't think that the firefight was an overkill.
17:20It was a legitimate shootout between the inmates who were attempting to escape and the police officers.
17:31As the operation of the police continues, the arrest of Abusayap in Sikap is becoming more and more frequent
17:39to question how tight the security of the prisoners in the Philippines is.
17:52It has been four years since the arrest of the members of Abusayap in Metro Manila District Jail.
18:01According to the criminologist and chief parole and probation officer, Janette Padua,
18:08the security of the prisons in the area where the incident took place needs to be tightened.
18:14All moves, monitoring. It's open but you can see up to the ceiling.
18:18You cannot go out. It was tightened since the incident happened.
18:23The bloodthirsty jailbreak should be avoided if there is a special facility for the high-risk offenders like the members of Abusayap.
18:33There is no special type. It's just regular. It's a separate cell.
18:37But it's more guarded. The cell is being taken care of.
18:42But there are not enough people. So that's the risk.
18:46According to the investigation conducted by the Fact-Finding Committee,
18:49the Department of Interior and Local Government,
18:53four months before the arrest of the prisoners in Abusayap,
18:58it was already accepted by the intelligence report of Metro Manila District Jail or MMDJ Warden Romeo Elizan.
19:07According to the investigation conducted by DILG,
19:11there might be a gunshot wound in the entrance of the cells.
19:15Apparently, there was a handgun.
19:20It was placed under the cooler.
19:24The cooler is thick so that the cold won't escape.
19:29The firearm was stuck under the cooler.
19:34They should have alerted the warden to have more security measures in the area.
19:42Apparently, the warden didn't take any additional precautionary measures.
19:48Even though there was no intelligence report, we know that the prisoners were planning to escape.
19:54Since there was an intelligence report, I have done everything to increase the number of our people.
20:02There were paper shows and I saw that there were staff there every day.
20:08Eyes of Europe Jail Management and Penology of BJMP.
20:12They have not filed a case of escaping from five city jails that were led by Elizan within eight years.
20:19I have a record of escaping from MMDJ, but it was in a court hearing.
20:25Elizan even planned to have a system inside the cell under his leadership.
20:32I was the first warden there who created a radio.
20:36Every post has a radio so they have a radio.
20:38I believe, in my term, the finger ID system came out.
20:43Every visitor who entered the cell had a computerized ID and a record.
20:48At that time, the situation was tense.
20:55The prisoners were relaxing and that was his fault.
20:58He didn't maintain or sustain the tension of his people.
21:01Even so, according to Rosendo Dial, the head of BJMP, it is difficult to escape from SICA.
21:08They will pass through four more gates before they can leave the gates of Metro Manila District Jail.
21:17They will pass through the gates of the camp.
21:20There are a lot of staff outside.
21:22Aside from SICA, there are also staff outside of MMDJ.
21:27There are also staff outside of MMDJ.
21:30Besides MMDJ, there are staff beside MMDJ.
21:33So it is very impossible for them to escape.
21:37But this is clear from the results of the investigation.
21:40MMDJ's leadership saw negligence in security inside SICA.
21:45At that time, there are only a few guards in SICA.
21:48Compared to the number of inmates, there is a huge lack of staff.
21:54Although SICA is within the Metro Manila District Jail, it is still inside one of the facilities.
22:01So there are additional jail guards inside the compound who are guarding at that time.
22:06There are jails with almost 6,000 inmates.
22:10The capacity of the jail should be 1,200 inmates.
22:16Overcrowded.
22:18And yet, their personnel is less than 200.
22:21So is it possible that 1 is to 100?
22:25Is it that many?
22:27According to their ruling, 1 is to 7 only.
22:30So it is really undermanned.
22:36The lack of personnel is also the reason why some prisoners were placed as jail aid or ranchero.
22:42They are the prisoners who, because of their good record inside the jail,
22:46are allowed to leave their cells and help in their work in prison.
22:53Sometimes, they are given sushi at the main gate of SICA
22:57when they are ordered to ration the food for the prisoners.
23:01But Elisan doesn't know that the rancheros have a sushi holder
23:06the day when the escapees escaped from SICA.
23:09Actually, the holding of sushi by the inmates is illegal under the administration of the BJMP.
23:17So on that part, there are lapses because that's where the inmates take the opportunity.
23:25In the whole country, more than 40,000 people are needed in prisons.
23:30But according to the BJMP, there are only 7,000 guards,
23:34who are in the prisons now.
23:37We lack personnel now, that's why we are utilizing the jail aid inside the facilities.
23:46The jail guard who was first picked up by Commander Cosobo was also suspected to be the one who shot the prisoners.
23:55Because of what happened, a serious case was filed against him.
23:59But in the end, they were also acquitted.
24:03Although they had lapses, they were able to prevent the escape.
24:08But the warden, aside from being relieved, he was fined, reprimanded, and forfeited one month's salary as his penalty.
24:17The BJMP admitted that they don't have enough funds to cover the lack of personnel and facilities.
24:24It became bloated. There are a lot of people in prison. Where will they get the badge?
24:29It's not enough.
24:31It's not enough.
24:33It's not enough.
24:35It's not enough.
24:37It's not enough.
24:39It's not enough.
24:41It's not enough.
24:43It's not enough.
24:44It's not enough.
24:47It's not enough.
24:49And there are a lot of people in jail. Where will they get the badge?
24:52It's not enough.
24:54Sometimes, the BJMP gets confused on how the situation will be handled with the increase of prisoners who are not included inside the funds
25:03But according to DILG, they are gradually solving the problem of avoiding running away
25:14If only the Abusayab prisoners could see the opportunity to execute their escape plan.
25:19I hope that the bloodshed won't reach all of them.
25:26I'm saying that I hope that the funds in our prisons won't run out.
25:30I hope that the people won't run out of money.
25:36I hope that the security won't run out.
25:39Now, all I can say is I hope.
25:44Until when will escaping from prisons become a big threat to us?
25:53Next Wednesday, I'm Arnold Clavio.
25:56Yesterday's questions will be answered in this episode of Case Unclosed.