2016 New Bilibid Prison riot


A riot in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Philippines occurred on early morning of September 28, 2016, killing one inmate and wounding three other inmates—all of whom were convicted in an illegal drug trade—and one former police officer.

Incident

On early morning of September 28, 2016, a riot erupted inside Building 14 at New Bilibid Prison. Initial reports from acting Bureau of Corrections director Rolando Asuncion said that one inmate witnessed three other convicts, namely Peter Co, Tony Co and Vicente Sy, using methamphetamine moments before the riot started. The inmate then alerted former police officer Clarence Dongail, who entered the cell and told them to stop. However, upon returning to the common area to watch TV, Tony Co attacked Dongail, triggering the riot. Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, in his media interview, said that high-profile convict Tony Co was killed after being stabbed. Convict and alleged drug lord Jaybee Sebastian—who was also involved in the riot, Peter Co and Sy were seriously wounded and taken to the hospital, however, Sebastian is in now stable condition white Peter Co is in critical condition. Dongail suffered minimal injuries.

Reactions

claimed that the Malacañang Palace is behind the Bilibid riot incident in order to persuade inmates to testify against her for alleged drug operations inside the prison. Later, at the press conference, de Lima expressed her anger, stating that reports about of Cos and Sy were "invented" and slams President Rodrigo Duterte for thousands of deaths during war on drugs.