3rd escapee from Laguna jail surrenders

SAN PEDRO CITY — One of the prisoners who escaped from a Laguna jail surrendered to the authorities in Bulacan province, the police on Thursday said.

Verjust Dizon, 36, was returned to the Laguna provincial jail in Sta. Cruz town at about midnight, according to Rommel Palacol of the provincial government’s Action Center.

Senior Inspector Gerry Sangalang, spokesperson of the Laguna police, said on Thursday that Dizon surrendered to the police in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, on Wednesday afternoon.

Quoting the escapee, Sangalang said Dizon, who was in jail over drug charges, was at the jail’s visiting area waiting for his son when commotion broke out last Sunday.

Dizon told the police that he took the opportunity to escape until he found his way to Bocaue town in Bulacan, more than a hundred kilometers away from Laguna.

Sangalang said Dizon wanted “to clear his name,” fearing that he could be implicated in the shooting of a jail guard. Aside from Dizon, five other prisoners bolted the jail reportedly after shooting jail guard Norberto Malabanan.

Malabanan was shot in the face and was recuperating in the hospital.

Escapees Rhandel Vale and Romel Macaraig were recaptured by the police in Imus City, Cavite, Tuesday morning. /cbb