Early 2017 has seen a series of escapes. Kidapawan prison is attacked at the beginning of January 2017. Some one hundred armed men enable 158 prisoners to escape. According to authorities, they belong to a dissident faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). One guard dies during the two-hour confrontation.
In February 2017, thirteen prisoners being held at a police station jail in San Fernando gain access to metal-cutting tools, and escape by sawing through the bars. They were being charged with drug-related crimes[^grills].
[^grills]:″Thirteen escape in prison break near Manila ″ in Al Jazeera, 26 February 2017.