16 QC detainees pull off year-end jailbreak

MANILA, Philippines–They were unusually noisy and boisterous that night, not to cheer the coming New Year, but apparently to drown out the sound of steel bars being sawed off.

Sixteen detainees escaped from the Quezon City Police District’s (QCPD) Cubao station in the wee hours of Wednesday by sneaking through a hole on the ceiling while the desk officer on duty was using the toilet.

The jailbreak prompted QCPD director Senior Supt. Joel Pagdilao to relieve the station commander, Supt. Wilson de los Santos, of his post for serious neglect of duty and infidelity in the custody of detainees.

In his report, De los Santos said 16 of the 53 detainees were able get out of the station around 2:30 a.m. while the desk officer, SPO1 Jade Gavina, was in the toilet.

Gavina’s desk is only about an arm’s length from the cell, which is located at the side of the station facing the corner of P. Tuazon Street and Edsa in Barangay (village) Kaunlaran.

According to De los Santos’ report, Gavina sensed something wrong when he heard noises on the roof. He and his colleagues then rushed out to P. Tuazon to check but saw only the last escapee disappearing in the darkness.

Pagdilao said the detainees were able to saw off the steel bars that serve as the next barrier after the ceiling.

Other members of the Cubao station reported to the QCPD chief that, hours before the jailbreak, the detainees turned very noisy apparently to drown out the sound of the steel bars being sawed off.

One escapee, Roberto Lacaba, a 25-year-old arrested for alarm and scandal, was surrendered by his mother later on Wednesday.

The QCPD is still hunting down John Sicat, 30 (charged with physical injuries); Benedict Guinto, 18, Miguel Glino, 22, Rene Flores, 31, Jeremy Llena, 25, Dennis Natividad, 27, and Thomas Evan, 25 (possession of deadly weapons); Roberto Valdez, 30, Roland Araneta, 18, Wilmar Morales, 38, and CJ Nuque, 19 (robbery); Emerson Castro, 20 (frustrated homicide); Rigor Alejandrino, 30 (theft); Alvin Lorensaga, 27 (estafa); and John Patrick Dionido (rape and robbery).