NPA seizes 100 guns in Davao prison raid Rebels clad in military uniforms By Dennis Santos, Jeffrey M. Tupas Inquirer Last updated 04:49am (Mla time) 04/09/2007 STO. TOMAS, Davao del Norte -- At least 60 fully armed suspected communist rebels conducted a lightning raid on the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) here early Sunday and made off with some 100 firearms and assorted ammunition, authorities said. The raiders, dressed in military uniforms and believed to be members of the New People’s Army, were also said to have fled with cash amounting to P11 million. But the DPPF director, police Supt. Catalino Malinao, denied this. Malinao said the raiders arrived at the gate of the former Davao Penal Colony at around 1:30 a.m. and conducted an operation that Malinao described as swift and precise. He said the raiders were wearing uniforms similar to those used by members of the Task Force Davao, an anti-terror group composed mainly of soldiers from the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion. The task force maintains headquarters in Davao City, some 60 kilometers from Sto. Tomas town. “The fact that the rebels were clad in full military uniforms made the raid easier for them,” Malinao said. “It was really silent and fast. It appears that the operation was well-planned,” he said, adding that it took the raiders about 10 minutes to empty the armory located about 250 meters from the DPPF gate. Intended for sale Maj. Randolf Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Armed Forces’ Eastern Mindanao Command, said that prior to the raid, the military received a report that the NPA was planning to step up offensives in Southern Mindanao. He said the targets were not identified in the report but alerts were nevertheless issued to various units. Four M-16 rifles, 45 Carbine rifles, five .38 cal. revolvers and 46 shotguns were taken, Cabangbang said. “The firearms are intended to be sold. They need financial resources to support their political organizations,” he said. Cabangbang also said the raiders had earlier commandeered vans from Panabo City about 30 km from Sto. Tomas. The van drivers -- who were not identified -- later surrendered to police in Panabo and Tagum City, he said. Malinao, however, said the exact number of firearms taken had yet to be ascertained. He also said the raid was totally unexpected, and that he and other prison officials were not aware of the military intelligence report on a supposed NPA plot to attack major government facilities. But he said the DPPF security was always on alert. Gaining entry Chief Supt. Andres Caro, police director of Southern Mindanao, said the raiders initially tried to convince the lone guard at the gate to allow them into the prison compound. He said one of the raiders -- apparently the leader -- approached PG1 Alfredo Sambalud and asked for an assistant supervisor, a certain Padilla, in an apparent effort to talk him into letting them in. “He claimed that one of their vehicles was having a problem and that they wanted some help,” Caro said, quoting the account of prison officials. “He told the guard they were on their way home from a wedding.” Later, however, other raiders disembarked from the vehicle and pointed their guns at Sambalud. “The guard was forced to open the gates for the rebels,” Caro said. He said the other guards posted inside the compound were helpless when the raiders disarmed them. “The prison guards were overtaken,” Caro said. But Malinao said there were actually two guards posted at the gate at the time of the raid. He said that the guards were not remiss in their duties and that they were tightly guarding the DPPF when the raid occurred. Cabangbang said only 15 guards were posted at the DPPF during the raid. But again Malinao denied this, saying a total of 168 guards were on duty, tending to 4,172 inmates. Cabangbang said that after gaining entry and disarming the guards, the raiders opened the armory -- then being guarded by PG1 Romeo Ernesto -- and took the firearms. “No prisoner was able to escape because the rebels only opened the armory. They fled after taking the firearms,” Cabangbang said. Caro said the Army and the police had launched a joint manhunt. Cabangbang said the raiders, believed to be led by Commander Parago, had moved toward Paquibato district in Davao City. Parago, whose real name is Leonardo Pitao, gained notoriety for kidnapping former Brig. Gen. Victor Obillo and another military official. He was arrested a few years ago, was freed on bail, and eventually returned to the underground. Recently, the military claimed that Parago was quite ill and very weak. Long work hours “We have done the best that we could but we really lack the necessary personnel here … We have been requesting additional personnel, but there is a moratorium in hiring,” Malinao said. He said the lack of guards had resulted in long work hours for those securing the compound. Apart from the prison compound, DPPF guards secure part of the giant banana plantation of Tagum Development Corp. (Tadeco), where minimum-security prisoners work as laborers under an agreement between the company and the Bureau of Corrections. “We find it really difficult to stretch the number of guards [to cover] all these security details,” Malinao said. He said that with the huge number of prisoners alone, the security ratio at the DPPF was one guard for every 25 inmates. Malinao said the only thing he was happy about was that not one of his men was harmed during the raid. The Philippine Daily Inquirer learned that when the raiders withdrew, they took with them three prison guards whom they later released in Sitio San Pablo, Barangay Fatima, in Paquibato district, Davao City. “Although some guards were held hostage, no one was hurt or killed. It was also some sort of a blessing that the inmates were spared,” said Malinao. Asked if there was anything he regretted, Malinao said it was the fact that the military and police did not alert the DPPF on the supposed intelligence report. “If I will be relieved, I will not oppose it. It’s the prerogative of my superiors. But the incident cannot be undone,” he said. In a similar raid by Moro gunmen in North Cotabato province in February, at least 48 inmates managed to break out from the provincial jail in Amas, Kidapawan City. Only four inmates have so far been accounted for. Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.