CBCP exec seeks independent probe of Parañaque jail blast

Inmates are seen at the Parañaque City Jail where 10 inmates including two Chinese were killed in an explosion.

AN official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is calling for an in-depth investigation into the explosion inside the Parañaque City jail that killed 10 inmates on Thursday night.

Rudy Diamante, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care, said an independent probe on how and why the incident happened should be conducted.

He said the Commission on Human Rights should be called in to conduct the investigation apart from those being undertaken by the police and jail officials.

“We cannot just simply rely on the in-house investigation being conducted by the police or the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Let the CHR initially look into it,” Diamante said.

Police said 10 high profile inmates were killed in a grenade explosion on Thursday night at the receiving area of the office of the jail warden, Supt. Gerald Bantag, where the inmates were waiting.

The Parañaque police chief, Senior Supt. Jose Carumba, said the inmates sought a dialogue with the official after hearing about his plan to transfer them to other cells and search the jail for contraband.

Carumba said Bantag was in the adjacent bathroom when he heard a commotion and then a gunshot coming from the inmates.

When Bantag reached for his pistol, the inmates kept shooting at him and an exchange of fire ensued. It was at this point when the grenade exploded, Carumba said.

An Uzi submachine gun belonging to the inmates was later recovered at blast site, the police official said.
Most of the inmates, who included two Chinese nationals, were facing drug-related cases.