On Thu, Oct 14, at least 35 inmates were hurt during a commotion at the Manila City Jail compound. Although the incident has been tagged as a “noise barrage,” it’s rather surprising that some people got hurt.
“Manila City Jail warden Superintendent Gerald Bantag said four jail officers were also wounded during the noise barrage staged by the inmates,” reports ABS-CBN News.
ABS-CBN News correspondent Niko Baua was able to take photos showing the prisoners on the roof and holding placards that said, “Palitan si warden.”
(“Change the warden.”)
The report noted: “Inmates dispersed after the Manila Police District Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) units were deployed inside the compound.
After all that, BJMP still insisted that it was “just a noise barrage.”
The Philippine Star reported that a number of the inmates wanted Bantag out because he “recently introduced a BJMP policy separating inmates with drug-related cases so they could be given proper intervention such as therapy, physical fitness programs, counseling, and spiritual enhancement activities.”
However, according to BJMP spokesperson Senior Jail Inspector Xavier Solda, the Batang City Jail group didn’t like this.
“Out of the four gangs (Sputnik, Commando, Bahala Na and Batang City Jail), only BCJ opposed the memorandum,” Bantag added.
