BARELY two weeks after four detainees escaped from a custodial facility in Bacolod City, another detainee bolted from the detention cell of Police Station 9 Friday morning, January 17.
The fugitive was identified as Gabriel Libo-on, 29, of Purok Nami-Nami 1, Barangay Sum-ag, who was charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Police Lieutenant Jonito Pastrana, chief of Police Station 9, said Libo-on, a former waiter in a restaurant in Bacolod, was arrested on January 8 in a drug bust and was charged for violation of illegal drugs, but he escaped by using unidentified metal to open the padlock of the custodial facility around 11:02 a.m. Friday.
The suspect fled from the back of the police station.
“At first, we concluded that he used the barbeque stick, which was recovered at the custodial facility, to open the gate,” Pastrana said.
He said the suspect escaped because the jail officer abandoned his post and allegedly went to the market to buy food while the desk officer was also busy entertaining complaints at the front desk.
The police reviewed the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera and they found out that before he escaped, Libo-on was visited by his two aunts who gave him unidentified metal that he used to open the gate.
Pastrana said on Saturday evening, they received a surrender feeler from the family of the suspect and they are hopeful that he will surrender for his own safety.
“He is not safe if he stays outside because he might be hunted by his cohorts in illegal drugs,” Pastrana added.
Two police officers assigned in Police Station 9 are facing administrative and criminal charges following the said jailbreak.
Pastrana said Sunday they already filed the criminal charges before the City Prosecutor’s Office against the jailer Staff Sargent Jose Miguel Rogacion for violation of Article 224 of the Revised Penal Code or evasion through negligence.
He said he will file the administrative charges today against Rogacion, who was detained at the custodial facility after the incident, and the desk officer, Staff Sargent Daniel Patrick Oro, for grave misconduct.
Rogacion was released from detention Saturday after the lapse of the 18-hour reglementary period and he’s now on duty, but he was disarmed.
The police are also conducting further investigation against the aunts of the suspect, who may be charged criminally.