MANILA, Philippines–Eleven men detained at the Mandaluyong City police station escaped on Monday after they sawed off the iron bars of a window in the toilet inside their cell. One of them, however, was recaptured after a relative turned him in.
The inmates who are facing theft, robbery and drug-related charges left the two-story building by smashing the lock of a door located at the back of the police station, according to Mandaluyong police chief Senior Supt. Tyrone Masigon. The men were detained in one of the two cells located on the ground floor.
Masigon identified the recaptured prisoner as Gabby Capistrano, a resident of Barangay (village) Addition Hills.
“You can’t hear the sound being made by the saw because the blade was being soaked in water to muffle the noise,” Masigon said when asked why none of the prison guards on duty was alerted to the jailbreak.
He added: “The detention cell located at the ground floor was also hidden from view.”
In a report, station duty officer Insp. Danilo Esguerra said that at 12:45 a.m. on Monday, he conducted a head count of the prisoners.
All of the 52 male and seven female inmates were accounted for at the time, he added.
At 4 a.m., duty desk officer and jailer PO3 Mateo Naayao learned that 11 male prisoners were missing, leading authorities to believe that the jailbreak took place between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Eastern Police District Public Information Office assistant spokesperson PO2 Catherine Capinpin said that as a result, five policemen, including the jail supervisor, were relieved from their posts.
Masigon confirmed the information, telling the Inquirer that Naayao also faces charges of violating Article 224 of the Revised Penal Code (infidelity in the custody of prisoners).
On the other hand, the other jailer, PO2 Edward Pasco, who has the shift after Naayao’s, along with jail guards PO3 Mardwin Quiaile and PO1 Jose Garcia Zapata, may be charged administratively for serious neglect of duty. Zapata failed to report for work on Sunday night.
Jail supervisor Insp. Reynigildo Suarez, the officer in command, may also be among those charged.
The Mandaluyong police, meanwhile, have formed a team to track down the 10 other inmates, who were identified as Anjo Remanes, of Fabella Street, Zontaville, Barangay Plainview; Archie Pacheco of Daang Bakal, Barangay Daang Bakal; Alexander de la Cruz alias Anday Celestino Lopez of Progreso Street, Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City; Nelson Yambao of Block 32, Barangay Addition Hills; Jayson Santos; Alber Llaneta of Fabella Street, Mandaluyong City; Jordan Villadolid of Pasig City who was later identified as the one who spearheaded the escape; Noel Gonzales of Addition Hills; Rogelio Reyes of Barangay Hagdang Bato and Fernando Nana Jr. of La Union.
How the inmates were able to sneak the iron saw in was still being investigated.