It was eight o’clock of Thursday evening . I received a call from my sister who was still inside her office that time. She was being prevented from going home because a hostage-taking incident has been going on in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility which is located just across her house and my parents’. She was informed by her husband that their place has been cordoned by the policemen. Eventually, she cannot pass near the site going to their house.
My house is two kilometers away from them. I immediately called my parents up to check their situation. (They are in their mid-70’s now). They locked up in their home, uncertain of the development of the happenings that were going on inside the jail. Since that time until the next morning, for us, there was a news-blackout.
Early the next morning, I was amazed to know as I chat with my daughter who lives in Las Vegas that the incident was all over. She was more updated than me about the development of the hostage -taking through the internet.
Friday headlines contain the news: A standoff in a jail- Two inmates gunned down a jail guard and took all 172 jail detainees as hostages. The incident lasted for almost 7 hours. The police authorities recovered from the 2 suspects a .45 caliber pistol, a .38revolver, a knife and a hand grenade. They have successfully handled the hostage-taking incident.
By the way, this facility- the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is situated in a third-most thickly populated barangay in the municipality . Only a barely six feet fence separates it from private elementary school. ( This is another serious issue for the local officials to act upon and… quickly please ! )
