Riot at Pasay City jail

Close to 600 inmates at the Pasay City Jail rioted yesterday after four of their leaders were forcibly taken out of their cells to be tested for drug use.

Tension erupted after an operation conducted by a special unit of the Pasay police last Tuesday night revealed that illegal drugs, including shabu, were being sneaked inside the jail by a drug courier.

Inspector Adelo Natividad, chief of the jail’s administrative department, noted that disorder erupted inside the jail housing around 570 detainees around 11:30 a.m. after learning that the leaders of at least four gangs would have to be transferred to another jail and subjected to drug tests.

Reynaldo Longcoc and Jake Villanueva, leaders of the Batang City Jail gang; and Egoy Trino and Wilfredo Rabacio, both leaders of the Sputnik gang, were immediately transferred to the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bicutan in Taguig City following the pandemonium.

Natividad said they are now considered "high-risk prisoners" and would have to remain at the MMDJ for an indefinite period of time. "The said detainees have already turned violent and even threatened to harm other inmates. It would be best if they are isolated from the others."

He added that the police had to fire warning shots to pacify the rowdy inmates who finally calmed down after 30 minutes.

Natividad pointed to Rabacio as the one who engages in the alleged transactions concerning delivery of illegal drugs inside the jail. A mobile phone being used in the transactions was seized from him.

Senior Superintendent Marietto Valerio, Pasay police chief, said they have identified the drug courier as 26-year-old Jonalyn Lucas, who was arrested during the operation. The latter is reportedly responsible for sneaking in illegal drugs, including sachets of shabu.

Lucas is the wife of one of the inmates, identified as Dante.

Valerio said that prior to the operation, they received information from a tipster about drugs being sneaked in and sold.

Natividad said that as a result of the incident, visits by inmates’ relatives would have to be suspended temporarily while officials review the jail’s security procedures.