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Saturday, September 06, 2003
3 inmates escape as jailers snore
By Mia E. Abellana
With Garry A. Cabotaje
CEBU -- Three inmates went past two sleeping jail guards and slid down a 15-foot wall at dawn Friday, in the third escape so far this year from the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC).
Warden Gledo Baroro could not help but punch JO2 Danny Rodriguez and JO1 Xyrus Ragaza in their arms and detain them inside the holding cell, after he caught them sleeping in their posts in towers 2 and 3, respectively.
Baroro inspected the towers at 3 a.m. The escape wasn’t discovered until more than two hours later.
Disgusted by the escape, Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said if he had his way, he would ask the former warden, Mamerto Baroro, to replace the current warden.
The two jail guards caught sleeping will be under investigation and could face administrative and criminal cases for negligence, said Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 Assistant Regional Director Manuel Duka.
Starting Friday, they were restricted to the BJMP 7 headquarters.
Duka ordered Warden Baroro to send a recovery team to go after escapees Fedelito Gabilan, 25, Ramon Salomon, 38, and Allan Maldo, 26.
Wall climbing
They believed that Salomon was a member of the Army because of his tattoos “RMG” (Regional Mobile Group) and “Guardians Mindanao.” (Court records show he was a former lieutenant.)
The last jailbreak at BBRC, led by inmates Joel “Tongol” Nodalo and Reil Bautista, was last March 23 under then warden Supt. Primitivo Benitez.
Nodalo, Bautista, Felix Al-os, Mitchell Bernabe and Washington Calimbo held a guard hostage, then ran to a waiting van.
Bautista and Al-os are still at large.
In Friday’s case, the three inmates tied together a nylon rope and chain, then attached an S-hook at the tip.
They then hurled the tip with the S-hook at the interlink wire and made sure it held on, before scaling the concrete wall.
When they reached the top, they used a cutter to make an opening, then slid down a steel pipe.
Jail guards recovered Maldo’s wallet near the pipe. It contained pictures and a glass tooter, used in sniffing shabu.
Sleeping
Warden Baroro told reporters the three may have escaped between 1 and 3 a.m. Friday because an officer inspected the towers before 1 a.m. and said the two guards were still awake then.
Baroro conducted his inspection at 3 a.m.
“I had to wake them up because they did not even hear me approaching,” Baroro told reporters. He immediately had the two guards placed inside the holding center, which used to be the cell parricide suspect Ruben Ecleo Jr. occupied.
It was not the first time Rodriguez was caught sleeping on the job.
Insp. Manuel Manawag, who was officer of the day, also caught Rodriguez napping last Monday night.
Rodriguez and Ragaza handle the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift.
The two declined to be interviewed.
The escape was discovered only at 5:30 a.m., when the prisoners alerted jail guards that some of their companions were gone.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) learned of the escape at 7 a.m.
Negligence
CCPO Director Cecil Ezra Sandalo said that after they found out the three were missing, the jail personnel still had to identify them and conduct a headcount.
He asked Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) Chief Paul Labra II to help BBRC locate the fugitives.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 will also alert its counterparts in Northern Mindanao, as Salomon was reportedly from that area.
NBI 7 Executive Officer Nelson Bartolome noted negligence in security and said that if they find basis to file criminal charges against the two guards, they will do so.
He added that he was sure the other inmates knew of the escape.
Bartolome, whom Acting Mayor Rama ordered to investigate the incident, went to the BBRC Friday afternoon for an inspection.
Aside from the escapees, BBRC also lost another inmate, who reportedly died of hemorrhagic pancreatitis (urom) at 10 a.m.
Baroro said an autopsy will be conducted on Dennis Bigtasin, 31, who died inside Brigade 5.
Bigtasin was brought to the Cebu City Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival.
Limited guards
Only 67 jail guards divided into three shifts watch over 1,964 inmates at the BBRC.
Baroro said it would greatly help them if the city jail were moved to the new Kalunasan facility.
Baroro told reporters he expected both heavy criticism from City Hall and perhaps even his ouster from the jail.
“Whatever the outcome, I’m prepared for it,” Baroro said.
Though he did not mention any plans of turning in his resignation, reporters noticed that he was already composing such a letter.
He did not agree with comments that said they were lax in their security. “Lax ang ubang personnel, pero dili lax ang security as a whole,” he said.
Late November last year, an inmate also leapt from the same wall, but did not have to cut off the interlink wire.
Hours after his escape, Michael Labrado surrendered to the Mabolo Police Station upon the prodding of his neighbors. Sun.Star Cebu
(September 6, 2003 issue)
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