The Department of Justice has confirmed that a man convicted of manufacturing shabu was included in the four inmates who died in a riot between two gangs inside the New Bilibid Prison on Monday.
According to Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, the Calvin D. Tan, who was among those killed in the Bilibid riot, has the same first, middle, and last name and age as the Calvin Tan, who was extradited from Hong Kong.
In 2012, one Calvin De Jesus Tan and several others were sentenced to life imprisonment for manufacturing shabu in a warehouse in Mandaue City that was busted by law enforcement agents in 2004.
The other three Bilibid riot victims were identified as Ace P. Pempena, Edgar Publico, and Jonathan G. Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, 62 other inmates and one Bureau of Corrections personnel were injured in the “free-for-all scuffle” between the Sputnik and Commando gangs Monday morning.
BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said the riot was “spontaneous” and that the gang leaders were “remorseful” following the incident. He said the BuCor is open to an investigation.
Last month, nine inmates were killed in a riot inside the Bilibid.
Those killed were six members of the Sputnik Gang, two from its rival group, Commando, and one from an unidentified group, the Southern Police District said. Seven other detainees were injured.
Convicted shabu manufacturer among 4 killed in Bilibid riot
Aglipay-Villar said the leadership of BuCor should explain how the riots happened.
“After the October 9 riot, BuCor conducted Oplan Galugad to try to get all improvised weapons that the PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) managed to make. However, it seems that was not effective with the guns fired this week,” she said.
“Riots tend to easily escalate, and deaths happen as we have seen because of congestion of the prison and the custodial personal to PDL ratio,” she added.