Bilibid inmate mauled to death by other prisoners following attack on detainee

A prisoner at the national penitentiary ran amuck Monday morning inside the maximum security compound, stabbing and wounding another inmate before he was beaten to death by other detainees.

Superintendent Richard Schwartzkopf, New Bilibid Prison (NBP) officer in charge, said that the injured inmate—26-year-old Mark Anthony Amorganda

—was taken to the prison hospital where he was treated for stab wounds in the arm and abdomen.

At press time, his condition was reported to be stable.

“Right after the incident, we immediately placed the inmates in a lock-down to let the situation simmer down,” Schwartzkopf told the Inquirer over the phone. “We convened the council of elders who represent prison gangs and all of them committed [themselves] to keeping the peace.”

Amorganda’s attacker was identified as Raul Robales, 47, who went amuck at around 8 a.m. inside the tightly guarded facility.

The NBP official said that without any provocation, Robales suddenly rushed toward Amorganda and stabbed him before other inmates jumped in and tried to separate them.

Robales, however, turned on them and he was beaten to a pulp, leading to his death.

Schwartzkopf said that the inmate apparently suffered fatal head injuries although the exact cause of death would have to be determined by an autopsy.

He added that investigators were still trying to determine what caused Robales to go berserk.

But based on prison records, he was recently sentenced to reclusion perpetua for murder, the official said.

“Among the things our investigators are looking at are their relationship as prisoners and other common factors they both share,” Schwartzkopf said, referring to Robales and Amorganda.

Both inmates hail from Pasay City and are members of Sigue-Sigue Sputnik, one of the gangs inside the NBP.

“It may be possible that they had a rift,” Schwartzkopf added.

Last week, a prisoner was killed while three others were hurt when a fight inside the same compound broke out between two prison gangs.

The brawl reportedly stemmed from a misunderstanding between two rival prison gangs—Commando and Sputnik—while some of their members were playing basketball.