Inmates Die in Prison Riot Near Manila

At least nine inmates were killed Friday in a riot between two rival gangs at the Philippines’ national penitentiary but which ended after prison guard regained control of the situation and the feuding sides agreed to a truce, officials said.

The fighting between the Commando and Sputnik gangs broke out around 2:30 a.m. Friday inside the maximum-security quadrant of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, a suburb of Manila, and lasted for at least 90 minutes, the Philippine Bureau of Corrections said.

“We have so far nine bodies accounted for,” bureau spokesman Gabriel Chaclag said in a radio interview in Manila, adding that seven other inmates were being treated for various injuries. “They stabbed each other with improvised knives.”

The entire prison is designed to hold around 6,400 inmates but houses nearly 29,000, according to statistics published by the bureau in August. Prisons and jails in the Philippines are notorious for overcrowding.

Fights over turf among inmates within those cramped and confined spaces often happen, but it was not immediately clear what ignited Friday’s deadly violence at NBP.

Chaclag said the security personnel eventually managed to control the warring factions, with leaders of the Sputnik and Commando gangs agreeing to a truce.

“We are holding [them] to their promise,” he said, adding that crude-bladed weapons had been recovered and that those found to have instigated the fight would be placed into isolation.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, ordered the Bureau of Corrections to investigate Friday’s riot and submit a report about the incident as soon as possible.

Gang leaders were called to identify the persons responsible for the incident. Once identified, they would be isolated to prevent further influencing other inmates, officials said.

In October last year, a home-made bomb exploded in a section of Bilibid prison where convicted Islamic militants are housed. The blast caused major damage but no injuries. Officials later said there appeared to have been a security breach in the compound, but did not further explain.

The country’s deadliest prison riot took place in the southern Philippines in 1989, when a band of 16 prisoners protesting against the poor conditions at the Davao Metropolitan District Command Center took hostage 15 civilians from a Christian missionary group, the Joyful Assembly of God.

The police regained control of the facility after a bloody battle, rescuing 10 hostages and killing 16 inmates. But five other civilians, including Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill, were killed during the rescue mission.