(UPDATE 2)North Cotabato village exec slain as government troops continue manhunt jail escapees

KIDAPAWAN CITY - A village councilor here died when government troops shot him after he was wrongly spotted as one of the leaders of the armed men that stormed the provincial jail here, around 1230 a.m., Wednesday.Killed was Satar Manalundong, kagawad of Barangay Patadon here and a known supporter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).Manalundong, on board his motorcycle, was on his way to the barangay hall in Patadon, along with two unidentified males, when operatives of the Special Action Forces (SAF) of the Cotabato Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and elements of the 39thInfantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, shot him dead.Reports said responding government troops saw two of Manalundong’s companions as among the fugitives from the North Cotabato District Jail (NCDJ) they’ve been hunting down since dawn.The two unidentified males were able to escape unharmed but Manalundong was hit in different parts of his body and died on the spot.Manalundong’s wife denied the allegations her husband was harboring escapees. Tutulong pa nga ‘yun para maibalik sa kulungan ang mga tumakas na preso, tapos, gano’n pa ang nangyari, the wife said.She also denied accusations that her husband was the Commander Derby of the BIFF that led the jail attack.NCDJ, also known as North Cotabato provincial jail, has apopulation is 1,511, as of January 3, 2017, jail officials said.Elements of the Army's 7th and 39th Infantry Battalion and Provincial Public Safety Battalion of the PNP have been scouring the mountain areas in the borders of Kidapawan City and the towns of Mlang and Matalam. It was a planned rescue operation, not a jail break, Supt. Peter John Bungat, jail warden said.For his part, City Mayor Joseph Evangelista has already directed city police director, Superintendent Leo Ajero, to investigate Manalundong’s death.Evangelista has ordered no classes in schools near the provincial jail to protect from harm children and the teaching personnel while manhunt operations are ongoing.Bungat said the suspects, all clad in black suits and military uniforms and armed with high-powered firearms, attacked the facility, around 1230 a.m., Wednesday.They first hit the power source and immediately went inside the facility.Bungat said 158 inmates, many of them involved in drug trafficking, were able to escape.Among the fugitives were the Tamayo brothers, both BIFF officials and charged with murder.Felix Capalla, considered as ‘chief expediter’(go between)among the more than 800 inmates inside, told media here that they were already informed a rescue operation is going to happen anytime from December 31 until first week of January.Capalla said after he learned of the rescue plot, he immediately informed Bungat about it. We already prepared ourselves for the attack.Many of those inmates that escaped were the ones that destroyed their prison cells using iron grills and other hard objects they collected and stored since October last year, said Capalla. But Bungat did not take my information seriously.Bungat and his personnel just prepared from December 31 until January 1.When nothing happened, they started pulling out from the facility, said Capalla.Capalla said loose security preparations and other safety lapses were among the reasons why the attackers were able to enter the jail’s premises. Last week, I saw some soldiers and policemen.But starting January 2 until Wednesday, there were only few of them around, he said.