March 16, 2005, The Philippine Star News Service, 22 Abu Sayyaf Dead in Jail Assault: Robot, Global, Kosovo killed, 

Four loud explosions rocked a maximum security prison at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City midmorning yesterday as a signal for government troops to storm the jail and end a bloody 24-hour uprising by Abu Sayyaf detainees.

When the smoke cleared, 22 prisoners lay dead, among them Abu Sayyaf leaders Alhamser Limbong, alias Kosovo; Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot; and Nadjmi Sabdula, alias Commander Global. The authorities gave no tally for the wounded prisoners.

Police Officer 1 Abel Pena Ariola, who was part of the initial assault team, was found dead later.

Abdulgani Hussein, who led the prisoners in failed negotiations with the authorities on Monday, and 17 unidentified others were also killed, National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Avelino Razon said. He added that police recovered eight firearms, along with two hand grenades and improvised firebombs, from cells used by the Abu Sayyaf inmates.

Detainee Hasdi Dais, alias Ka Lando and a spokesman for the inmates, was also killed, according to Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes.

“Hindi kami susuko dahil tama kami. Handa na kaming mamatay. Kung may madamay dito, kasalanan nila iyon (We will not surrender because we are in the right. WeÕre ready to die. If others here get hurt, it would be the fault of the police),” Dais told dzBB in an earlier phone interview.

Government negotiators, led by Reyes, waited for more than 26 hours and extended negotiations seven times before the assault was launched.

“The crisis is over,” he told reporters. “The operation is terminated.”

Hours after the attack, the smell of tear gas still hung over the jail as police continued to search the cells. Officials said many of the dead Abu Sayyaf members were found in a blood-soaked cell on the ground floor.

Aside from the 23 slain yesterday, three prison guards and two Abu Sayyaf members were killed after dawn Monday when the prisoners overpowered the guards and began the revolt. Two other jail guards were wounded Monday.

The government said at first it had agreed to the rebels” demands, including speeding up long-delayed trials, but the talks broke down on Monday night when the militants demanded food and refused to give up their weapons.

The assault came after Reyes gave the inmates 15 minutes to surrender yesterday morning, the second day of a standoff with inmates.

“After considering all peaceful means, we have reached a decision to take the final option,” Reyes said. “They refused to yield the firearms which they grabbed from the guards and turned down our calls and assurances for their safety, including the plea of our Muslim leaders.”

As the deadline passed at 9:15 a.m., intense gunfire rang out within the prison compound. Some police officers fired tear gas canisters and flashbang grenades, while heavily armed troops wearing gas masks stormed the four-story building.

Heavy automatic rifle fire could be heard coming from the prison bloc holding 471 prisoners, a third of them Abu Sayyaf suspects, as thick clouds of tear gas billowed from the windows.

The 64-man assault team penetrated the Security Intensive Care Unit building through the fifth floor and the front gate. The team rescued some 400 inmates and cleared the fourth and fifth floors.

A firefight ensued as policemen entered the third and second floors. The Abu Sayyaf detainees had seized the first floor of the facility.

Some detainees were seen scaling down the walls of the building as thick smoke billowed out. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties.

“There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells,” said Special Action Force SPO3 Napoleon Cabrera, who led an assault team that reached the third floor.

“Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke. I engaged one rebel with a pistol. He was shooting at me. I was hit in the leg. But I know he fell down,” Cabrera said.

He was one of six policemen who sustained gunshot wounds during the assault and were rushed to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital.

Special Action Force Police Inspector Jose Mondequillo, PO3 Arlito Franco and PO2 Sandy Caoili, as well as Regional Special Action Unit PO2 Noel Elespre and PO2 Belen, were among those wounded.

Razon said police “have taken control of all of the floors,” citing a report by the ground commander about an hour after the operation began.

Gunshots were heard around midday, an hour after the assault was completed, when police flushed out an Abu Sayyaf suspect from a prison toilet, he said.

Razon downplayed allegations that the assault amounted to overkill.

“We operated with maximum restraint. It was executed well and with minimum casualties,Ó he said.

Razon believes the negotiations had been part of dilatory tactics employed by the detainees, who demanded a speedy trial for their cases, security guarantees and access to the media.

“For them to give away a good opportunity to take advantage of the propaganda value of facing local and international media only proved it was merely a dilatory tactic,” he said.

Negotiations through the jail’s intercom device had to be extended seven times from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 12 midnight Monday, and to 5 a.m., 9 a.m., and 9:15 a.m. yesterday because the rebels refused to surrender their firearms.

Reyes noted they were criticized for “being indecisive and slow” in finishing off the rebels.

“We could have done the assault earlier but we decided to try diplomatic means first,” he said.

Reyes said the operation had been carried out in an “exemplary” manner but expressed “regret” at the casualty count.

“I hope this delivers a strong message that anybody who tries to do something like this in the future will be dealt with in the same fashion,” he said.

Reyes noted that the Abu Sayyaf detainees who were killed “tried to escape. They killed three of our guards and wounded two others.” He added that “there will be a thorough investigation” into the incident.

Asked why Andang was shot when he had already lost a leg during his capture in 2001, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said, “You don’t use your legs to fire a gun.”

Bataoil said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by Limbong and Tahir Abdul Gafar, a kidnap-for-ransom suspect.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez ordered the indefinite suspension of visits to detainees in Camp Bagong Diwa to prevent similar incidents until the investigation into the failed jailbreak has been concluded and necessary reforms implemented.

Razon earlier said it was possible that visitors of detained Abu Sayyaf members were able to smuggle firearms into the facility.

Last option

By the afternoon, President Arroyo said in a radio speech that “terrorism will never win in the Philippines.”

She said a government team, led by Reyes, had “exhausted all peaceful means to resolve the crisis” and force was used as a last resort.

In Cebu, Bureau of Jail Manangement and Penology -7 has been on “red alert status” following the hostage crisis at the BJMP in Bicutan,Taguig city . last Monday morning .

BJMP-7 Assistant director for administration and Operation P/Supt. Cesar Balderas yesterday said it iis standard operating procedure to declare a red alert status whenever incidents such as the Bagong Diwa prisoner revolt takes place. - With Flor P. Perolina