An improvised explosive device (IED) went off Friday morning while authorities were demolishing illegal structures inside the maximum security compound (MaxSeCom) of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
Police Major General Guillermo Eleazar, outgoing director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the blast occurred inside the Quadrant 4, east sector of the MaxSeCom, NBP, around 10 a.m.
The area is occupied by violent extremist offenders including jailed members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated Maute terrorist group, Rajah Solaiman Group, Jimaah Islamiya and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Authorities have yet to determine if there were any casualties.
Police were also trying to establish whether the IED was deliberately detonated or it accidentally went off while the clearing operations were ongoing.
Eleazar said joint teams from the Explosive Ordnance Division and K9 unit of the NCRPO were immediately dispatched to the area to investigate the incident.
“The EOD team conducted a thorough search within the area for possible secondary explosive device using explosive detection dogs,” Eleazar said.
He added that the team found two more hand grenades and two blasting caps inside a shanty adjacent to the explosion site.
Joint government agencies have been conducting clearing operations inside the national penitentiary since Tuesday to demolish illegal structures such as kubols or shanties built by inmates with “powerful connections.” (Martin A. Sadongdong)
