Ex-carjacker wants to stay put in jail despite attempted hit

MANILA, Philippines—A former carjacker, Alfred Mendiola, said he wanted to remain at the Bulacan Provincial Jail despite a bombing attack on the facility last Saturday.

“He really wants to stay there (Bulacan Provincial Jail),” said Justice Secretary Leila De Lima.

De Lima said she personally joined the Intelligence Special Operations Group (ISOG) who fetched Mendiola on Sunday, and placed him at a safe house of the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

“His stay is temporary because he will testify today before the Quezon City Court,” De Lima said.

Mendiola is a former member of a carjacking syndicate who has volunteered to testify against his former colleagues in at least two carjacking and murder cases.

Police reports say that two suspects scaled the wall of the Bulacan jail early morning Saturday, using a bamboo ladder, and hurled two hand grenades and two Molotov cocktails at Mendiola’s detention cell.

During his talk with De Lima, a day after the incident, Mendiola insisted that he still feels safer in the Bulacan jail.

“He told me that it was the inmates themselves who protected him. He said they removed him from his cell and hid him,” De Lima said.

After today’s hearing, De Lima said the Justice department will determine what to do with Mendiola “because there is a standing order from the court that he stays at the provincial jail.”