Police file charges vs. leader of gunmen in N. Cotabato jail attack

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 14): Police file charges vs. leader of gunmen in N. Cotabato jail attack

Police on Friday filed charges of direct assault with murder against Esmael Nasser, the leader of an armed group that stormed the North Cotabato District Jail (NCDJ) and set free 158 inmates last Jan. 5, police said Saturday.

North Cotabato Police director, Sr. Supt. Emmanuel Peralta, said 19 followers of Nasser, alias Commander Derbi, were also included in the charge sheet filed before the Kidapawan City Prosecution Office.

Peralta said empty cartridges from M-14 Armalite rifles were recovered in the thickly forested vicinity of the jail, particularly in Sitio Nazareth, Barangay Amas and Sitio Centro, Barangay East Patadon, Matalam, North Cotabato.

The suspects remain at large.

Speaking to a radio station last Thursday, Nasser admitted that he led the attack to rescue a companion and to retaliate against then Jail Warden Supt. Peter John Bongngat, who allegedly ordered the destruction of a mosque inside the jail facility last year. Bongngat denied Nasser's claim, maintaining that the mosque was not destroyed.

At 1 a.m. on Jan. 5, about 20 armed men led by Nasser attacked the jail facility, killed a jail officer, and set free 158 detainees.

Nasser was arrested and jailed at the NCDJ for murder and a series of bombings, including one incident in Kabacan, North Cotabato, in 2013. He bolted jail in August last year.

North Cotabato Acting Gov. Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva said that while in jail, Nasser and Melvin Casangyao, a moneyed drug lord, became friends.

When Nasser bolted jail, Casangyao contracted him for a PHP1-million mission. Villanueva, who chairs the provincial Special Action Committee on NCDJ, said Casangyao promised to pay Nasser PHP1 million if he could rescue him and two .60 caliber machine guns if the mission is successful.

To date, 60 inmates have been accounted for, 10 of whom were killed during pursuit operations.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) director Serafin Barretto Jr. has recommended to Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno the transfer of NCDJ inmates to other detention facilities in the Soccsksargen region as one of the safety measures to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Barreto, in a statement, said the memorandum of agreement between the Department of Education and the BJMP for the use of the NCDJ as a prison compound had already expired in 2010.

The NCDJ was a public school converted into a prison colony.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=955131