Guard shot dead, 171 inmates held 'hostage' in Antique jail

A jail guard was shot dead while more than 100 inmates were held hostage in the San Jose District Jail in Antique province late Thursday. But the tension over the two incidents started to subside after the inmates surrendered at midnight Thursday, radio dzBB reported early Friday. The dzBB report quoted San Jose town police head Chief Inspector Gilbert Guerrero as saying the first incident involved the fatal shooting of Jail Officer 2 Romer Saquibal by inmate Christopher Fernando. After shooting Saquibal, he and some of his companions allegedly took hostage the other inmates, prompting authorities to negotiate with the hostage-takers. The report said the Antique jail has a total of 172 inmates. It took authorities seven hours to negotiate with the inmates before the inmates surrendered, the report said. — LBG, GMA News