60 inmates, personnel of San Mateo jail injured in noise barrage that turned deadly

SIXTY persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) or inmates and personnel of the San Mateo municipal jail in Rizal were injured after a noise barrage last Friday night that led to several hours of standoff and subsequently confrontation.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesman Chief Insp. Jayrex Bustinera yesterday said the noise barrage started at around 6 p.m. last Friday while dinner was being served.

Bustinera said the noise barrage, instigated by seven PDL leaders, was staged by the inmates to protest the cashless system being implemented at the commissary of the municipal jail.

He said the system was being implemented to promote transparency and address corruption. He said most of the facility’s 574 PDLs joined the noise barrage.

“There’s a misunderstanding or miscommunication in the implementation of its (cashless system) implementation between the management of San Mateo municipal jail and the PDLs,” said Bustinera.

He said the PDLs took over the cell area and the general purpose area, which serves as the venue for the livelihood training of the PDLs and for receiving visitors.

“We tried to peacefully negotiate with them and end the (situation peacefully),” said Bustinera, adding the negotiation was done with the help of the PNP, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office.

However, Bustinera said the PDLs started destroying government property, including computers and the gate of the facility.

This prompted officials to send in a “response team” to restore order, leading to minor injuries on 20 jail personnel and 60 PDLs, including the seven leaders of the inmates, during the confrontation.

“First, the destruction was already visible,” said Bustinera when asked why the response team was dispatched to restore order.

“They were also destroying the gate, which is very risky because this may lead to the escape of the more than 500 inmates,” Bustinera said.

He said the inmates used wood they took from the facility’s general area to destroy the area.

He said the situation ended at around 3 a.m. on Saturday.

“As of now, repairs are ongoing and at the same time, we are conducting an investigation on the