8 Bacoor jail guards relieved over jail break

SAN PEDRO CITY – Manhunt operations continued Saturday to recapture 15 more inmates who bolted the police detention facility in Bacoor City in Cavite province.

Bacoor police chief Supt. Vicente Cabatingan said they have recaptured overnight since Friday five more inmates, out of the 23 (not 22 as earlier reported by the police) escapees.

Some of them were arrested in Kawit, Cavite “in their homes or the homes of their relatives,” Cabatingan said in a phone interview Saturday.

The jailbreak on Friday afternoon prompted Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, Calabarzon police director, to order the relief of eight jail guards assigned in Bacoor, Cabatingan said.

He said an investigation was underway into the supposed “lapses” that led to the jail break.

A jail guard was leading a detainee into the cell after taking his mugshots, when the others took this opportunity to push open the cell’s gate and overpower the police, police said.

The city government of Bacoor has issued an advisory and released pictures of the escapees to warn the public.

“We’ve been getting information that some have left for NCR (National Capital Region) while others are still in Cavite,” Cabatingan said.

He said most of the escapees faced drug and robbery charges and none of them used to be considered a police “high value target.”