Guard killed as armed men linked to Muslim rebels free more than 150 from Philippine prison
"It’s All Fun and Games, Until Someone Unleashes Death Squads"
Neil Jerome Morales and Manuel Mogato
January 4 2017
Manila: About 100 armed men with links to Muslim rebels stormed a prison in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing a guard and freeing more than 150 prisoners, some of them Islamic militants, officials said.
The Southeast Asian, majority Roman Catholic nation has for decades been plagued by insurgency by Muslim rebels in its southern islands.
Filipino inmates remain in their cell at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan city. Photo: AP
The gunmen opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, prison warden Peter Bongat said on radio. Of the jail's 1511 inmates, 158 managed to escape, he said.
Eight prisoners had since been caught, two had surrendered, while six were killed, according to the office of the president.
Police patrol outside the walls of the North Cotabato District Jail after a jailbreak. Photo: AP
Shirlyn Macasarte, acting governor of North Cotabato, said her office had been tipped off about the plan by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to free its members as early as the second quarter of last year.
"They were involved in murders and at the same time I think they have experience in bomb making so we watched them closely," Macasarte told news channel ANC.
The leader of the attackers, known by the alias Commander Derbie, had links with the BIFF, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Macasarte said.
Some members of the MILF and BIFF were said to be behind the killing of 44 police commandos in a secret mission two years ago to capture a Malaysian bomb maker with a $5 million bounty from the US State Department on his head.
In 2014, the government signed a peace deal with the MILF, the biggest Muslim rebel group, but clashes still occur with smaller groups.
Philippines to disband police anti-drugs units after killing of South Korean businessman
Updated about 2 hours ago
The Philippines police will disband anti-drugs units following the killing of a South Korean businessman by rogue officers, but President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term.
Key points:
* Police will dissolve all anti-drugs units following the killing of a South Korean businessman
* A $133,000 dead-or-alive bounty will be placed on those accused of killing Jee Ick-joo
* Mr Duterte says international criticism will not stop his drugs crackdown
SWS: 78% of Filipinos fear becoming victims of EJK
By CNN Philippines Staff
Updated 16:16 PM PHT Mon, December 19, 2016
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Seventy-eight percent of Filipinos fear they or someone they know will get killed in extrajudicial killings, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey reported.
In a survey released on Monday, SWS divided respondents into those who are "very worried" (45 percent) and those who are "somewhat worried" (38 percent) they will fall victim to the spate of killings happening amid the administration's war against drugs.
The remaining 10 percent were "not too worried" about the extra judicial killings, while 12 percent were "not worried at all."
Drug suspects should be kept alive
Most Filipinos also agreed that it was important to keep drug suspects alive.
According to the survey, 94 percent of Filipinos agreed it was "very" or "somewhat important" that drug suspects weren't killed indiscriminately during operations.
Only 1 percent said that keeping suspects alive was "not important at all."
Filipinos still highly satisfied with drug war
Despite this, the survey showed that an overwhelming number of Filipinos remain highly satisfied with the administration's campaign against drugs.
In the same survey, Filipinos reported they were 85 percent satisfied with the ongoing operations to curb drugs-- a percentage point up from survey results in September.
Filipinos also agreed that since President Rodrigo Duterte took office, the incidence of drug problems in their areas has decreased.
The fourth quarter report surveyed 1,500 participants nationwide through face-to-face interviews. It has sampling error margins of ±3 points.
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