Jail guards had their hands full on Wednesday night.
A murder convict who was just watching a basketball game was killed when a brawl involving almost a hundred inmates erupted between rival gangs at the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
On the same night, a Quezon City jail inmate was bludgeoned to death with a thick wooden club—a “dos por dos”—by another inmate whom he tried to stab inside their cell.
The NBP warden, Chief Supt. Richard Schwarzkopf, identified the riot victim as Edwin Soriano, 51, from Pasay City.
Investigation revealed that Soriano, a member of the Commando Gang who was brought to the facility in 2000, died of stab wounds and also suffered bruises. He was pronounced dead at the NBP hospital, Schwarzkopf told the Inquirer on the phone on Thursday.
Four other Bilibid inmates—Rodolfo Eudiate, Ramonchito Guiralde, Rogelio Malonzo and Valeriano Amestuso—were treated for minor injuries.
Schwarzkopf said the riot stemmed from a full-court basketball game being played on the left wing of the maximum security compound at around 6 p.m.
‘Wrong call’
“It all started when a coach who is a member of the Sputnik gang allegedly shouted insults at the referee, who belonged to the Commando gang, for supposedly making a wrong call,” Schwarzkopf said.
Tempers flared on both sides of the court, until even the spectators rooting for their respective teams joined in and started throwing rocks at each other. Close to a hundred inmates figured in the riot.
“Our security people responded to the incident and pacified the inmates immediately. However, it was too late when we got to Soriano,” Schwarzkopf said.
The director said the leaders of the two warring gangs eventually made peace with each other that same night.
Bureau of Corrections chief Gaudencio Pangilinan has ordered an investigation of the incident.
“We have not accepted visitors in the meantime and we have also conducted search operations. The NBP is investigating the incident to determine who is responsible and will be charged,” Schwarzkopf said.
At the Quezon City jail, 35-year-old Edgardo Tiglao, an alleged drug user, took a fatal beating from Reggie Reyes, 29, a kidnap-for-ransom suspect.
Jail warden Supt. Joseph T. Vela said both inmates were members of the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang and staying at the same dormitory.
Reyes allegedly admonished Tiglao for earlier instigating a riot with a rival group, the Bahala na Gang, Vela said in his investigation report.
The heated exchange led to a fight wherein Tiglao tried to stab Reyes while the latter hit back with a dos por dos club.
Tiglao initially received treatment at the jail’s clinic before being brought to East Avenue Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival.