CORRECTS - Drug lord killed in violence at Philippine jail

CORRECTS TYPO IN HEADLINE

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – Philippine officials said a notorious Chinese drug lord was killed Wednesday after violence broke out among inmates at the national prison, injuring four others -- among them a convict sought as a witness in a Senate inquiry into a bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.

Local media reported that Tony Co, among the inmates tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as running a drug dealing business from inside the National Bilibid Prison, was killed in a stabbing spree that reportedly broke out when a convicted former police major reprimanded others for using drugs.

Among those injured were two others on Duterte's drug list -- Peter Co and Vicente Sy -- and Jaybee Sebastian, who officials have sought to have testify against Duterte critic Senator Leila de Lima.

De Lima -- who has been extremely vocal in criticizing Duterte’s war on illegal drugs, which has left more than 3,000 suspects dead -- has been accused of collecting money from drug personalities during her term as secretary of the Department of Justice, which supervises prison facilities.

De Lima responded to the incident by casting doubt on whether it was indeed a "riot" as described by current Department of Justice officials.

"Absent any other available reliable information, I am not discounting the fact that this is another way of the government ‘persuading’ the Bilibid 19 to testify against me and this incident should serve as a lesson to those who refuse to cooperate with the government," the Inquirer quoted her as saying in a televised press conference.

The Philippine Star quoted the Bureau of Corrections’ officer-in-charge, retired Chief Superintendent Rolando Asuncion, as saying that seven to eight inmates were involved in the violence Wednesday morning.

He said that the former policeman who reprimanded those using drugs is regarded as an inmate leader while Sebastian and Peter are “commandos”.

Duterte won the May 9 election on a crime-fighting campaign, and has pledged to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months -- but has requested a six-month extension saying he had not realized the severity of the “drug menace”.

Of the more than 3,000 deaths reported under the anti-drug campaign, 1,490 are under investigation as of Sept. 10 with authorities blaming suspected vigilante groups.

Duterte has accused De Lima of collecting drug through an alleged lover to support her senatorial bid in the last elections -- allegations she has denied.