Bilibid blast mocks maximum security

“Maximum security” may be a misnomer for that special section of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, where only 228 guards working on eight-hour shifts keep watch over 13,097 inmates.

NBP Superintendent Ramon Reyes cited these figures and apparent lapses on the part of his men, as officials of the country’s main prison facility got another egg on the face following a grenade attack inside the maximum security compound that wounded six inmates Friday morning.

Speaking to reporters, Reyes said the explosion could be related to an ongoing war between prison gangs, noting that the wounded all belonged to one group, Batang City Jail.

The six victims were part of a group of inmates who were out for a morning jog.

Reyes said that after meeting with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima about the incident, he learned that President Aquino himself questioned the NBP’s level of security.

“The President wants to know how someone was able to bring a grenade in,” Reyes said.

Caught on CCTV

Footage from NBP’s closed-circuit television cameras showed that an inmate came up from behind the group of joggers as they were going past the Alternative Learning System building inside the compound.

The suspect then lobbed the grenade which exploded on a concrete bench near the joggers.

Reported wounded in the explosion were Jeric Dioquino, Sabas Lastimoso, Ronnie Franco, Nino Garin, Eddie Boy Oson and Fernando Montemayor.

Recovered from the scene were several bits of shrapnel, including the grenade’s pin and lever, Reyes said.

Reyes admitted that while body-searches and other measures against contraband had been intensified at the maximum security compound, “may nakakalusot pa rin. Pilit natin tinutuklas kung paano (There’s are still some banned items that get through. We are doing our best to find out how this is still happening).”

Reyes said the grenade may have been smuggled into the compound long before the attack. “It was probably buried somewhere and then taken out when it was needed.”

Later in a phone interview, Reyes said it was possible that some inmates were able to smuggle weapons into the compound “in cahoots with some of our employees who could be tempted (with bribes).”

He also noted that vehicles like rice delivery vans, ambulances and NBP’s own multicabs could be used by the smugglers. Firearms, for example, could be concealed in the sacks of rice.

The Department of Justice said the National Bureau of Investigation will conduct a parallel probe into Friday’s grenade explosion.

“The information we got is that it was an inmate who threw it (grenade). The question is how did the grenade get inside; that’s the big question they should answer. I’m sure Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will ask them to explain,” Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III told reporters. With a report from Jerome Aning