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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Jail guard given a week to catch escapee
JAIL Officer 1 Mark Along has one week to capture inmate Rogelio Puerto who escaped from his custody after a court hearing last Tuesday in Argao, Cebu.
If Along fails to do so, an administrative complaint for negligence resulting to the escape of a prisoner will be filed against him, said Warden Ivy Verallo of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabiliation (CPDRC).
Because of the escape, the lack of vehicles to transport prisoners was raised.
Unless prisoners come in a group of five or six, the guards would only ride passenger buses when escorting inmates attending court hearings in the municipalities, Verallo said.
Primary concern
When told of the problem, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she will look into the possibility of giving additional vehicles for the provincial jail, but her primary concern is the transfer of inmates to the new jail.
She challenged the provincial engineer and the contractor for the new provincial jail in Kalunasan, Cebu City to speed up their work so the facility could be used by next month.
Garcia also instructed CPDRC Warden Ivy Verallo to give her an hour-by-hour report on this, with emphasis on the capture of Rogelio Puerto, who is facing a rape case.
Verallo said Martin-quilla’s office will evaluate the administrative liability of Along, who refrained from escorting inmates yesterday.
Admin case
The administrative case, whose maximum penalty is dismissal from service, will be filed before the office of Cebu Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla.
A six-man CPDRC tracking team, led by Jail Officer 3 Alger Comendador with Along as back-up, returned to the CPDRC empty-handed yesterday dawn.
Verallo, however, assured he would recommend a lesser administrative offense against Along such as suspension of duty if the CPDRC team captures Puerto a week from yesterday.
Verallo said Along admitted to him that he escorted Puerto to the prisoner’s house to eat lunch after the hearing at the sala of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 26 Judge Maximo Perez in Argao, some 67 kilometers south of Cebu City.
Puerto, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, Argao, is facing a rape with robbery case at Perez’s court.
Outsmarted
Along explained to Verallo that the prisoner’s house is just 100 meters away from the court building.
But Puerto outsmarted Along and pretended to wash his hands in the kitchen when he dashed for freedom with handcuffs still hanging from one of his wrists.
Verallo said Along should not have allowed the inmate to eat lunch in his house because it violates the CPDRC’s escort policy.
As of yesterday, the CPDRC tracking team would again scour the area in southern Cebu yesterday afternoon hoping to recapture Puerto. (GC/JPM)
(September 23, 2004 issue)
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