MANILA, Philippines — At least three inmates died and 64 others were injured in the riot that erupted at the New Bilibid Prison on Monday morning, the Bureau of Corrections said.
In an update on Monday afternoon, BuCor said that incident was between members of the Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Sigue Sigue Commando gang, the two groups also involved in a brawl a month ago.
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“Three [Persons Deprived of Liberty] were declared dead on arrival at the [New Bilibid Prison] Hospital and 64 PDL sustained injuries wherein six among the 64 were referred to Ospital ng Muntinlupa for medical attention,” it said in a statement.
BuCor said that relatives of the victims were also informed of the incident.
Violence broke out at the Maximum Security Compound in Bilibid at around 8:34 in the morning.
BuCor said that they immediately sent their personnel, along with officers from the Philippine National Police SWAT and Special Action Forces and from the Bureau of Fire Protection to the place of the incident.
The bureau said that some members of the operating team who responded also sustained minor injuries.
BuCor said the incident was contained after more than an hour or at 10:00 a.m.
As of 3:30 in the afternoon, “NBP is back to normal operations... and everything is under control,” it added.
Possible negligence of BuCor officials
The riot at the Bilibid on Monday happened exactly a month after a brawl happened between the same members of the two gangs. In the October 9 incident, nine inmates died and seven others were injured.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra immediately ordered the BuCor to conduct an investigation into the incident. He later on the day asked the National Bureau of Investigation to also conduct a probe.
READ: DOJ orders BuCor, NBI to investigate deadly Bilibid brawl
Asked if the DOJ will look into possible negligence of BuCor officials in the second deadly incident in the Bilibid in a month, Guevarra said: “Definitely.”
This covers BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag.
Guevarra stressed: “These BuCor officials should have learned their lesson from the previous violent incident where several PDLs were killed.”