Jail exec facing admin raps shot dead in Muntinlupa City

From gmanetwork.com:

Sept. 17, 2013

Sixty-two-year-old Prison Superintendent III Francisco Abunales of the Bureau of Corrections was facing an administrative complaint over the fatal shooting of a prisoner in Occidental Mindoro last June.

He was about to formally answer the charges and defend himself, if only he had not been shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men inside the compound of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City on Tuesday morning.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said before being assigned at the NBP in Muntinlupa, Abunales was the former head of the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro province.

He was however suspended after he and 13 other jail officials and officers were blamed for the death of Roland Ho, a prisoner at Sablayan, in June.

“Inmate Ho, without authorization and without the benefit of an escort left his confinement area and was shot to death at Sablayan town proper on June 14, 2013,” said the DOJ in a statement.

As a result, Abunales and 13 other prison officers were relieved of their duties. At the time of his death, he was detailed at the NBP in Muntinlupa City, pending investigation into the death of Ho.

“The DOJ handled the investigation of the administrative charges against Abunales and 13 others to avoid a whitewash,” said the DOJ, of which the Bureau of Corrections is under. The BuCor supervises all prison and penal farms in the country.

Just last week, the DOJ had ordered Abunales and 13 other respondents in the administrative case to formally answer the charges against them.

But on Tuesday, Abunales was about to leave the garage of his quarters at Vicar inside the NBP Reservation when two unidentified men riding in tandem shot him five times at about 8:45 a.m. He was rushed to the Muntinlupa Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival at about 9:30 a.m.

Investigators are looking for leads that could establish the motive behind the shooting. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News