8 inmates escape from Quezon district jail

LUCENA CITY-–At least eight inmates bolted the district jail of the Bureau and Management and Penology in Gumaca, Quezon, before dawn Tuesday, police said. But a radio report, quoting Gumaca Mayor Erwin Caralian, said that one of the escapees had been recaptured by the police.

Chief Insp. Romulo Albacea, Gumaca police chief, said the prisoners–whose cases involved murder, robbery and car theft–sawed off the metal bars of one of the windows of their cell and escaped at 1 a.m. under cover of darkness caused by a power blackout in the area as a result of Typhoon Glenda that hit Quezon province two weeks ago.

The BJMP prison is located at the back of the Gumaca police headquarters inside Camp Natividad in Barangay (village) Rosario. An Army detachment is also based inside the camp.

Albacea said the prison houses more than 100 inmates awaiting trial.

He said more prisoners could have joined the jailbreak if not for the shouting of other inmates from another cell that alerted the guards and policemen.

Police said except for the eight prisoners who made good their escape, the alerted jail guards frustrated the attempt of the other prisoners to join the fugitives.

Albacea said the jail guards, policemen and Army soldiers chased the eight escapees but lost track of them because of darkness.

The police official said the camp has an electric generator but was not enough to provide lights to the whole compound.

The BJMP jail guards and the police immediately launched a special unit to hunt down the escapees.

The excapees were identified as:

— Florante Mergenio Arguelles – charged with murder

— Freddie Ordiales Nicol – murder

— Joseph Hulaton Alvarez – car theft

— Zeus Repia Nierva – robbery

— Joel Cabardo Senosin – frustrated murder

— Anthony Garcia Revilla – murder

— Geraldel A. Cruz – robbery

— Alejandro Pacuan Villa – attempted murder

It was not immediately known who of the eight escapees was recaptured.–With a report from  Julliane Love de Jesus, INQUIRER.net