City police chief, four other cops relieved after Lipa jailbreak

BATANGAS CITY – The police chief of Lipa City in Batangas and four other policemen were relieved from their posts after four detainees escaped from the city police’s jail early on Wednesday.

Senior Supt. Arcadio Ronquillo, Batangas provincial director, ordered the relief of Supt. Barnard Danie Dasugo, Lipa City police chief; Senior Insp. Domingo Ballesteros Jr., officer of the day; SPO2 Cleofe Pera, the senior duty police non-commissioned officer; PO2 Jayson Luna, desk officer; and PO1 Daniel Cascante, the jailer on duty when the prisoners bolted from the police station’s lock up cell.

READ: 4 detainees bolt Lipa City police jail

Ronquillo, in a phone interview Wednesday, said the five police officers would be reassigned to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) of the provincial police office pending clearance from higher Philippine National Police headquarters and also from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Under the law, no reassignment or transfer of government employees, including policemen, could be undertaken without the approval of the Comelec during the election period, which started on Jan. 10 and will end on June 8 this year, for the May 9 national and local elections.

Ronquillo said a criminal case of Infidelity in the Custody of Detention Prisoners would be filed against Cascante while the other police officers would face administrative cases.

He said he directed the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB) to determine the nature of the administrative lapses or negligence committed by the relieved officers.

Ronquillo said their investigation revealed that at about 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, Luna heard a noise coming from the ceiling of the cell.

Upon checking, he saw Tommy Candor, a detainee, jumping out from the ceiling. Luna immediately accosted and subdued Candor.

A head count was thereafter conducted and revealed that out of 40 detainees, four were missing.

Dasugo, who was interviewed by the INQUIRER prior to his relief, had identified the escaped prisoners as Rommel Endaya and Marvin Inciong, both accused of robbery; and Jonathan Jimenez and Alvin Masupil, who faced separate illegal drug charges.

The detainees destroyed the ceiling of the detention cell and used blankets to climb up and bolt from the jail, said Ronquillo.

He said the police have launched a manhunt operation for the recapture of the escapees. CDG