23 youth offenders escape in Caloocan

A total of 23 youth offenders escaped from a Caloocan City rehabilitation center Thursday night by sawing off the steel bars and matting of a toilet window, police said.

It was the second time since 2011 that detainees managed to outsmart guards at Yakap Bata Holding Center, which is run by the city government and supervised by the local social welfare office, the Inquirer learned.

The center, located inside the city council building at the back of city hall on A. Mabini Avenue, holds minors who had been arrested for various offenses as well as vagrants.

Sources said the escapees apparently took advantage of the ongoing activity at the center, which is currently moving its offices and detention areas from the second to the third floor of the building.

According to a report by the Caloocan police, the 23 escapees were all males aged between 13 and 18 years old. The mass escape was discovered around 11 p.m. Thursday.

An investigation showed that the detainees sawed off the steel bars and steel matting on the window of the holding center’s toilet on the second floor and went through the hole to escape the facility.

The head of the center, Rowena Drilon, declined to comment on the incident while the officer in charge of the city social welfare and development, Jimmy Castro, could not be reached as of posting time.

Sources said that as of Friday afternoon, the center was holding 17 detainees.

Police officials recalled that in 2011, seven boys also escaped the center by jumping out of the windows. Out of the seven, only two were reportedly returned to the center.