Of 31 inmates who escaped during a raid on the Basilan provincial jail over the weekend, at least three were reportedly members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front while 10 were Abu Sayyaf militants. Among the MILF escapees was a so-called deputy base commander whose many names include Hadji Dan Laksaw Asnawi. He was arrested in connection with the ambush on a team of Marines looking for a kidnapped priest in July 2007. Ten of the 14 Marines killed in the attack were beheaded. Asnawi has a P2-million reward on his head. The other escapees carry bounties ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 each.
Such “high-risk” inmates need maximum-security detention facilities. Did the Basilan provincial jail have even minimum-security capability? Jailbreaks are not unique to Basilan. But the province has long grappled with violence and terrorism. It can take years before a terrorist suspect can be caught, and the tightest watch must be kept on detention facilities in the hotbeds of extremist violence in Basilan and Sulu. If such high-risk suspects are going to be detained in the provincial jail, every measure must be implemented to prevent a jailbreak, which is always a possibility in this country. Yet the jail was either undermanned, or else someone let in the raiders.
Yesterday pursuing troops recaptured one of the escapees and killed another. The rest have melted into the jungles and remote communities of Basilan. The mass jailbreak wastes the efforts of those responsible for the arrest of the inmates, and robs the escapees’ victims of the opportunity to receive justice. Worse, the escapees are expected to rejoin their cohorts and could get back at their victims and their families as well as witnesses.
Justice does not stop at the arrest of suspects. They must be indicted and a solid case built for their successful prosecution and conviction. Once sentenced, or if they are denied bail while their case is pending, they must be kept behind bars. Allowing them to escape, whether through neglect, incompetence or collusion by their jailers, is an injustice.