Inmate stabs fellow inmate at city jail

CEBU, Philippines - An inmate is currently being treated at the hospital after he was stabbed twice by a fellow inmate inside the Cebu City Jail last Wednesday evening.

Emmanuel Porillo, 46, sustained stab wounds in his chest and back after he was attacked by Harold Dequitos, 25, who held him responsible for his father’s lifetime imprisonment.

Homicide Section investigators said Porillo, who was assigned to one of the detention cells at the ground floor of the jail, was told by a fellow inmate around 9 p.m. last Wednesday to go to the visiting area at the second floor as someone was waiting for him.

Porillo went to the visiting area and Dequitos suddenly approached and stabbed him in the upper part of his chest and in the back.

The victim was taken to the Cebu City Medical Center while jail guards immediately subdued Dequitos and placed him in the jail’s isolation cell.

Jail warden Johnson Calub said they now have custody of the shank, or improvised knife, used in the stabbing —a weapon made of cyclone wire with a pentel pen cup as a handle.

The victim underwent surgery and is now under observation at the hospital but his condition is now stable, Calub said.

It was only the second day in prison for Porillo, a resident of Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, who is facing a theft case.

Dequitos, a resident of Barangay Tejero, has been in prison since April 4 this year for murder and illegal possession of firearms. He will face the jail’s disciplinary board with this latest crime, Calub said.

Sanction against Dequitos may include loss of his visitation privileges and the privilege to avail of the good conduct time allowance.

The warden said the suspect accused the victim of being a police asset who caused the imprisonment of his father for drugs.

“Galagot siya sa biktima kay mao kuno’y nakaingon sa pagkapriso sa iyang amahan, tua na karon sa National Bilibid Prison” Calub said.

Calub said jail guards roam around the facility and also inspects the visiting area from time to time, but they failed to pre-empt the suspect’s attack considering that it was driven out of personal grudge.

“Lisod man gud na pugngan kung personal grudge, makakita man g’yud na sila og paagi. Lisod sad og pirme tua sa sulod atong mga jail guards, risgo sad kaayo para nila,” the warden said.

He further said that Porillo also failed to inform them about the threat that faced him inside the jail facility.

“Nagpasidaan unta siya daan kay i-assess man ‘na namo para malain namo siya ug detention cell ug di sila mag-abot,” he said, adding that they also tell their prisoners not to bring their conflicts outside into the jail.

Once the victim is discharged from the hospital, Calub said they will detain him somewhere else.  (FREEMAN)