Saturday, November 01, 2008 Rape suspect escapes from NBI custody By Annabelle L. Ricalde
OPERATIVES of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have fanned out through Northern Mindanao in search of a rape suspect who escaped from their custody at the height of a five-hour brownout last October 24.
Lawyer Justo Yap, NBI Northern Mindanao director, said the suspect, Rodrigo Jumalon, 35, a resident of Manggahan, Barangay Balulang, Cagayan de Oro City, cut the iron bars of the NBI detention cell at the Provincial Capitol grounds and escaped.
Yap said Jumalon took advantage of the five-hour brownout to make his escape undetected.
He said NBI operatives learned that Jumalon had escaped when they came to work the following morning.
Yap said they are conducting an investigation on how Jumalon got a hold of a cutting instrument despite strict restrictions at the NBI office.
"Hindi isang gabi lang na linagari niya ang bar, kasi more than a month na siya naka-detain and we have no idea saan niya nakuha `yung ginamit niya sa paglagari. I ordered our agents to conduct investigation," Yap said.
Yap said there was a serious lapse in the security of the NBI compound.
Jumalon, a motorela driver, was accused of raping his neighbor, a saleslady of a commercial establishment in J.R. Borja street, Cagayan de Oro City last September.
The NBI arrested Jumalon after the victim, accompanied by a fellow employee, went to their office and filed a complaint.
Jumalon denied the accusation, saying that he and the victim have a relationship.
Yap said Jumalon, through his lawyer, had asked the court for a re-investigation, prompting the City Prosecutor’s Office to order the NBI to place the suspect in their custody.
