Busy guard, weak ceiling were all QC jailbirds needed

ALBANO. Photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Build tougher jails if the guards are multitasking.

This must be the lesson learned by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) after two crime suspects escaped from their detention cell early Friday.

The escapees apparently saw an opportunity while the policeman who was supposedly keeping an eye on them was busy attending to a complainant.

A manhunt has been launched against Celino Santos, 42, and Florence Batoy, 26, who sneaked past lawmen manning QCPD’s Kamuning station.

QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano ordered the immediate relief of the policemen responsible for the inmates, starting with Insp. Ramon Austria, the desk officer on duty who also served as a jail guard at that time.

“I will recommend the dismissal of these police officers since what happened was a gross negligence of their duties,” Albano said.

Three tracker teams have been deployed to recapture Santos and Batoy, who were believed to have escaped around 3:45 a.m. Friday by silently prying open a portion of the ceiling, climbing through the opening and then finding another gap leading out of the station.

Albano ordered that the ceiling be reinforced with steel bars.

Santos, a resident of Barangay Kamuning, was arrested for illegal possession of firearms while Batoy, a resident of Mindanao Avenue, was held for robbery. The two detainees were awaiting trial.