Bataan jail guards beat up 41 inmates?

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines – Forty-one inmates of the Bataan provincial jail suffered injuries as jail guards allegedly beat them up and shot them with rubber bullets last weekend as they conducted a noise barrage after their relatives were barred from visiting them.

Reports said an inmate, a certain Cecilio Agravante, died, but in a report to the regional police command here, Senior Superintendent Arnold Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said Agravante succumbed to pneumonia on the morning of Oct. 15.

According to reports, the jail guards beat up the inmates, hit them with pieces of wood and fired rubber bullets at them after a standoff in the noise barrage.

Witnesses told police that as soon as the inmates started the noise barrage, the jail guards led by one Chief Inspector Roger Antonio allegedly hosed them with water from a fire truck.

Reports said the “mayores” from each cell were picked up, told to lie face down, and were then hit with hard objects and beaten up.

Last Sunday, Antonio claimed in a TV interview that the inmates suffered injuries during a riot.

Antonio, however, refused to allow local newsmen from entering the provincial jail to verify the reports and also failed to answer their queries.           

However, the inmates’ relatives refused to believe Antonio’s claim, saying the rioting was made up to justify the inmates’ injuries.

Ernie Esconde of the Bataan Press Club said they heard the cries of inmates being beaten up and a burst of gunfire, too.

An inmate was reportedly able to throw a piece of paper outside the jail’s gate, where he sought help from the governor.

Reports quoted another letter as stating, “Inay, patawag kayo ng media dahil papatayin kami dito (Mother, call on the media because they would kill us here).”