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Monday, January 03, 2005
2 felons bolt amid New Year's hoopla
By Mia E. Abellana
With Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Two inmates bore a hole on the concrete wall of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) and escaped just hours before New Year.
Although the inmates were recaptured less than two hours after the escape, jail personnel will have to face investigation for possible lapses.
Suspected drug pusher Roberto "Obet" Hegremosa and fellow inmate Christian Rivera, convicted for robbery, made a hole six feet high and jumped outside while guards were not looking.
It took jail personnel nearly four hours to get Rivera, who sought refuge in Barangay Basak.
But Hegremosa did not get far.
He was captured five minutes later near The Village, an entertainment complex just across the jail compound in Barangay Apas.
Afraid he would be beaten up, Rivera asked a retired policeman to help him before going with the jail personnel who found him at 2 a.m.
The policeman brought him to the house of Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who turned him over to the BBRC.
Rivera's registered address is on C. Padilla St., but his mother resides in Basak.
Chief Inspector Teofilo Labating Jr. denied there was no tower guard at the time of the escape, saying the jail was on red alert for the holidays.
He said had there been no guards in the towers, they would not have stopped Hegremosa from crawling out of the wall.
Still, he has asked the 16 personnel on duty at the time to explain in writing why the escape happened.
JO1 Dennis Aliņo is also tasked to investigate how the two inmates managed to escape.
"We were on red alert, which means all guards were there. Basin nalipat lang," Labating told Sun.Star.
He believes the fireworks display that night distracted the attention of guards from their watch.
Rivera told Labating the escape was Hegremosa's plan and he just went along because his girlfriend failed to visit him on Christmas and earlier that day.
As for Hegremosa, mayor of Brigade 7, he said he escaped because he needed to find money to fight his case.
Hegremosa was arrested on June 23, 2003 for allegedly selling 50 grams of shabu to a poseur-buyer.
The buy-bust was a joint effort by the Cebu City Police Office and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7.
Hegremosa was the target of a National Bureau of Investigation 7 operation that led to the strafing incident that injured five employees of the Plantation Bay resort.
Hegremosa sustained cuts on his knees and other parts after he fell into a canal beside the jail during his escape.
The walls surrounding the BBRC were built in 1975 yet.
Senior Inspector John Montero, of the BBRC administration section, said the walls are no longer that strong.
He said there was already a hole on the wall, and the inmates only had to expand a bigger hole on it.
Since this part of the wall was covered with moss, jail officers admitted they did not notice it was there.
"Sadly, I admit I had no idea there was a hole there. I thought that if there was one, it would have been discovered when we started adding more hollow blocks on the wall to make the fence taller," Labating told Sun.Star.
He has covered the hole with cement and added a piece of wood and some barbed wire behind it.
The BBRC has also requested a private company that regularly donates to them to help strengthen the fence.
Labating was in his office when he heard a commotion outside.
When he came out to check, his men told him two inmates had escaped.
He immediately ordered a headcount to make sure there were no other escapees.
Hegremosa repeatedly apologized to Labating for escaping.
But jail personnel will also have a lot of explaining to do.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama ordered the jail oversight committee to investigate how the inmates were able to escape.
Rama, chairman of the City's Police Coordinating and Advisory Council, also asked the committee to look into Rivera's complaints about the continuous smuggling of illegal drugs inside BBRC.
"Although it's not as rampant as before, he (Rivera) complained that drugs continue to be brought in every day and we have to look closely why this is still happening," Rama told Sun.Star.
"And how were they able to escape? He admitted to me that they took advantage of the absence of the tower guard, so the jail management has to answer for this," he continued.
Rama asked the oversight committee to check if there are no other holes big enough for another escape.
While the Ayala and the International Pharmaceuticals Inc. already agreed to finance the repair of the fence and other BBRC facilities, he said repair works have not started yet since agreements with the private companies still have to be finalized.
Rama also wants all repair works completed before Jan. 16 to ensure no jailbreaks during the Sinulog celebration.
Much as they want to transfer the inmates to the new jail facility in Barangay Kalunasan, Rama said they could not do so since a perimeter fence, administration buildings and other facilities have yet to be constructed.
(January 3, 2005 issue)
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