10 gangs hold key to the good life in prison

By DJ Yap

JAIL INSPECTION. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is greeted by maximum security inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City during an inspection with lawmakers. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—They may be kept under lock and key in the maximum security compound, but they themselves hold the key to a good life in the national penitentiary, including watching DVDs of the hit US TV series “Prison Break.”

Gangs lording it over at the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) control a series of kubol (cubicles) occupied by wealthy inmates, including Chinese drug lords.

“The guards themselves don’t have the keys. The inmates hold the keys,” Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. fumed after a 45-minute inspection on Tuesday of the 536-hectare state penitentiary in Muntinlupa City by members of the House justice committee.

Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo said prison rules were regularly being ignored, noting that he found DVDs of “Prison Break” in one of the kubol, as well as a documentary on the history of the Nazis, themes banned for recreational viewing.

Jail officials admitted at the House committee hearing later that they had relinquished much of the operational control at the heavily guarded facility to 10 gangs and to their leaders the task of maintaining order.

Unacceptable

Supt. Ramon Reyes, the NBP chief, described the arrangement as a “best practice” to keep the peace and prevent riots.

But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who joined the inspection and attended the hearing, said the system was “not acceptable.”

“The gang system is perhaps acceptable. What is not acceptable is to allow them to take control of what is happening inside the compound. The NBP seems to have a very limited supervision and control of the gangs,” De Lima said.

At the hearing, she ordered the dismantling within the day of the special cubicles occupied by convicted Chinese drug lords and the rest in the next few weeks. She threatened to file insubordination charges if her order was not carried out by Wednesday.

Each of the 14 buildings in the maximum security compound is under the control of a gang. The compound has a capacity of 6,000 but houses 12,000 inmates.

Led by De Lima and justice committee chair Niel Tupas Jr., the officials visited a building controlled by the Batang City Jail (BCJ) gang.

VIP amenities

They observed that while most of the cells were crammed, there were separate special cubicles with plywood partitions and apparently occupied by only one or two inmates. These had amenities, such as an electric fan, a couch and even a play area.

One cubicle had wall-to-wall mirrors that the lawmakers described as like those in a hotel. There were also toilets for the exclusive use of “VIP” inmates.

Asked about the “VIP” label, Reyes said this was an arrangement of the gangs and not of the jail guards.

At the hearing, BCJ commander Froilan Trestiza, who was invited along with three other inmates, defended the gang system, saying they policed their own ranks and cooperated with the jail officers in detecting violations, such as drug activities.

Reyes admitted that there was a “double standard” for inmates with money and those without. Generally, moneyed prisoners are allowed to have kubol constructed regardless of their sentence, the crime they were charged with or their nationality.

Operational nightmare

Reyes cited a previous plan of resigned Bureau of Corrections director Ernesto Diokno, who was also at the hearing, to dismantle these kubol and transfer their occupants to another building.

But the plan has not been implemented because the building is still under renovation.

De Lima told reporters that the demolition of all the kubol would entail plenty of planning and involve the possible deployment of soldiers to secure the process.

“That’s the operational nightmare. That’s what General Diokno proposed, but they found it hard to implement because they couldn’t figure out where to transfer them,” she said.

De Lima said the officials should also ensure that guards in the new quarters were reliable and competent and would not be bribed or influenced by drug lords. Also, she cited a need for adequate equipment like closed-circuit television cameras.

The secretary said she liked a suggestion that three-decker beds be used once all the kubol had been dismantled. “It will still be congested but not as bad as the present,” she said.

Entrenched gang system

Reyes said De Lima’s order to dismantle the kubol in so short a time would be difficult to implement, citing a shortage of personnel and lack of equipment.

De Lima said the gang system had become so entrenched they had developed some sort of independence from the jail authorities.

“What happened here is it’s like all these gangs became autonomous all these years they were left on their own. They do their own thing. They are coming up with their own rules,” she said.

De Lima earlier said she had received information that some drug kingpins in the NBP had been bribing jail officials P3 million to P5 million in exchange for having their rivals transferred to far-flung penal colonies. With reports from Cynthia D. Balana, Tina G. Santos and Jerome Aning

Facebook party spins out of control in Germany

Associated Press

Over 1,500 party goers gather in Hamburg, Germany, to celebrate with their Facebook friend, Thessa. The host, a teenager who forgot to mark her birthday invite in Facebook as private, escaped from her own party when things got a bit too crowded for comfort.

BERLIN — Better check your Facebook settings before posting a party invitation online.

A teenage girl in Germany who forgot to mark her birthday invitation as private on Facebook fled her own party when more than 1,500 guests showed up, and around 100 police officers, some on horses, were needed to keep the crowd under control.

Eleven people were temporarily detained, one police officer was injured, dozens of girls wearing flip-flops cut their feet on broken glass, and fire-fighters had to extinguish two small fires at the 16th birthday party in Hamburg, police spokesman Mirko Streiber said Sunday.

The birthday girl, identified only as Thessa, went into hiding, Streiber said, but “nonetheless the party was a hit.”

Thessa had initially only wanted to ask some friends over to her home in Hamburg-Bramfeld when she posted her invitation on Facebook, but mistakenly published it so that everyone on Facebook could see it.

The invitation quickly went viral, and some 15,000 people confirmed online they would come to the party — without even knowing the girl, weekly paper Bild am Sonntag reported.

When Thessa’s parents found out, they made their daughter cancel the party, informed police and hired a private security service to protect their home on Friday night.

Despite public announcements in Hamburg that the party had been canceled, some 1,500 teenagers and young adults showed up on the street in front of Thessa’s home, Streiber told The Associated Press.

“We had cordoned off the house, some 100 police were on the ground, four of them on horses — but that did not keep the kids from celebrating,” Streiber said.

Some revelers held up signs asking “Where is Thessa?” others brought birthday presents and homemade cake, there was lots of alcohol and the crowd chanted again and again, “Thessa, celebrating a birthday is not a crime,” — in obvious relation to the massive police presence, Bild reported.

The police officer was injured when he tried to keep a party reveler from breaking off the Mercedes-Benz logo of his patrol car.

“It was sheer insanity but mostly peaceful,” Streiber summed up the night with a laugh.

As for Thessa — she was nowhere to be seen. Police confirmed she “was not at home that night” and Bild reported that she celebrated quietly with her grandparents at an undisclosed location.

PH, Viet leaders hit China over Spratlys

PROTEST IN HANOI. A man shouts anti-China slogans during a protest against the alleged invasion of Vietnamese territory by Chinese ships in disputed waters, in Hanoi on June 5, 2011. Several hundred people gathered for a rare protest in front of China's embassy in Hanoi on Sunday, against the alleged invasion of Vietnamese territory by Chinese ships in disputed waters. AFP PHOTO

SINGAPORE—The Philippines and Vietnam on Sunday criticized recent Chinese military activity in the South China Sea amid fears that small confrontations in disputed areas could lead to armed conflict.

Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told a security forum attended by China’s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie that “actions by other states … unnecessarily make other states like the Philippines worried and concerned.”

“Such a sense of insecurity also results when ordinary fishermen are warned by foreign vessels prompting them to leave the area,” he said.

Gazmin’s remarks came after Manila on Saturday accused China of undermining peace and stability in Asia by allegedly sending naval vessels to intimidate rival claimants in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Manila cited incidents from February to May when the Chinese Navy allegedly opened fire on Filipino fishermen, intimidated a Philippine oil exploration ship and put posts and a buoy in Philippines-claimed areas in the Spratlys.

Manila has also queried Beijing over plans reported in Chinese state media to install an oil rig in the area.

Gazmin said that “insecurity is generated when materials for possibly constructing certain structures are found in areas where a declaration has been made to refrain from putting up such kinds of structure or infrastructure.”

Committed to peace

Liang earlier Sunday told the forum that China was committed to “peace and stability” in the South China Sea.

“I know many people tend to believe that with the growth of China’s economy, China will become a military threat,” said Liang, the first Chinese defense minister to attend the annual conference, called the Shangri-La Dialogue.

“I would like to say that it is not our option,” he said, adding that China would never “seek hegemony” or threaten any country.

In a 45-minute speech followed by a question-and-answer session, Liang warned that countries “should not engage in any alliance targeting a third party” but did not go into detail.

On the sidelines of the forum, Liang held talks with outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday, a meeting both sides described as positive.

Gates left on Saturday for Afghanistan after delivering a speech warning of the danger of armed conflict in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting claims adopt a mechanism to settle disputes peacefully.

US-China ties

After long-running tensions sparked by issues such as US arm sales to Taiwan, Liang said on Sunday that “the picture of the bilateral relations between China and the United States is a good one.”

“I believe all of us are very optimistic about the future of bilateral and military-to-military relations,” he added.

The Spratly and Paracel archipelagos, believed to hold major oil and gas reserves, are claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Rare protest in Hanoi

Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh told the Singapore meeting that “we expect China to honor the policies that they announced” and expressed hope that the statements “translate into reality.”

“I fully propose that we must exercise restraint and patience and commitment to solve these issues, these differences, by peaceful means. We must strictly observe the DOC,” he said.

The Vietnamese general was referring to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, a pact signed in 2002 by China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Sunday in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, in a rare protest demanding that China stay out of their waters following a spat involving a Vietnamese oil-drilling research boat in the South China Sea.

The group of mostly young people demonstrated in front of the Chinese embassy, many wearing Vietnamese flag T-shirts and carrying signs that read, “Stop Chinese invasion of Vietnam’s islands.” After about 30 minutes, they were dispersed by police.

China blasts Vietnam

The protests follow a May 26 incident when a Chinese patrol boat allegedly destroyed the cable on a state-owned PetroVietnam boat conducting seismic research some 120 nautical miles off Vietnam’s central coast.

Clashes are common in disputed areas of the sea claimed by both countries, but Hanoi has responded feverishly to this incident, saying it occurred well within the 200 nautical miles guaranteed to Vietnam as an exclusive economic zone by international law.

China has accused Vietnam of undermining its interests and rights within its waters.

“It is neither a disputed area nor is it an area managed by China,” foreign ministry spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga said recently in response to China’s statement about the incident.

“China has deliberately misled the public into thinking that it is a disputed area,” the spokesperson added.

A number of stories have been published in state-run media blasting the incident as an attack against Vietnam’s sovereignty and accusing China of increasing regional tensions.

Several well-known scholars have called on Vietnam to take the case to the United Nations. Reports from AFP, AP and Reuters