Inmates hold hostage co-inmates

Iloilo City—Inmates armed with grenades and hand guns shot dead a jail guard and held hostage fellow inmates at the Antique district jail in the provincial capital of San Jose Thursday evening but gave themselves up past midnight after a six-hour stand-off, the authorities said.

It was unclear how many of the jail’s 172 inmates participated in the hostage-taking but an official report issued by the Antique Provincial Police Office said 17 inmates surrendered to the authorities at the end of stand-off at the facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in San Jose’s barangay 4.

The lone fatality was identified as Jail Officer 2 Romer Saquibal, who was shot and left inside the single-story building during the stand-off, according to the police report.

The report was not clear about what prompted the shooting and the stand-off and whether the inmates had attempted a jail break.

The provincial police report said the incident started early Thursday evening after inmate Christopher Fernando overpowered and then shot Saquibal with a .38-caliber pistol near the entrance to the prison cells while the inmates were being rounded up for dinner.

Fernando then went back to the area where the cells were located, bringing with him Saquibal’s .45-caliber handgun.

Another inmate, identified as Lloyd Francisco, threatened to blow up the prison cells with a hand grenade while the police were negotiating with Fernando.

The inmates asked food and cigarettes during the negotiations, which were carried out through hand-held radios, at the 300-square-meter jail compound.  INQUIRER