Philippine police killed three detained militants linked to the Islamic State group after they staged a jail rampage Sunday (local time) that saw a police officer stabbed and a former opposition senator briefly held hostage in a failed escape attempt from a maximum-security police facility.
National police chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr said former Senator Leila de Lima was unhurt and taken to a hospital for a checkup following the brazen escape attempt and hostage-taking at the detention centre for high-profile inmates at the main police camp in Metropolitan Manila.
One of the three inmates stabbed a police officer who was delivering breakfast after dawn in an open area, where inmates can exercise outdoors. A police officer in a sentry tower fired warning shots, and then shot and killed two of the prisoners, including Abu Sayyaf commander Idang Susukan, police said.
The third inmate ran to de Lima’s cell and briefly held her hostage, but he was also gunned down by police commandos, Azurin said.
De Lima has been detained since 2017 and has been facing a trial for drug charges she says were fabricated by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“She’s safe. We were able to quickly resolve the incident inside the custodial centre,” Azurin told reporters.
Susukan, who had been blamed for dozens of killings and beheadings of hostages, including foreign tourists, and other terrorist attacks was arrested two years ago in southern Davao city.
The other two inmates, Arnel Cabintoy and Feliciano Sulayao Jr were suspected members of the Dawlah Islamiyah, a Muslim militant group that has been linked to bombings and other deadly attacks in the country’s south.
Many militants belonging to Abu Sayyaf, which the United States and the Philippines have blacklisted as a terrorist organization, and the Dawlah Islamiyah have aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.
The police officer who was stabbed with an improvised knife was in serious condition at a hospital, Azurin said. Another inmate was injured in the rampage.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said the three slain inmates staged the rampage in an attempt to escape and did not specifically target de Lima.
De Lima told opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, who visited her, that she feared she would be killed during the incident. “Why would I die now when I may get freed soon."
De Lima’s yearslong detention has sparked calls for her immediate release from the European Union Parliament, some US legislators and UN human rights experts and international watchdogs.
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