KALIBO, Aklan – The provincial government here launched an investigation to determine possible lapses committed by 10 jail guards of the province’s detention facility following the recent jailbreak of two inmates.
Gov. Florencio Miraflores enjoined the probers headed by provincial administrator Atty. Selwyn Ibarreta and Provincial Board member Nemesio Neron through an Executive Order No. 50.
“Titingnan natin ang culpability ng mga jail guards sa mga regulasyon ng ARC (Aklan Rehabilitation Center,” said Neron, who chairs the Provincial Board’s peace and order committee.
According to Neron, the jail guards – Ariel Melgarejo, Lonie Villanueva, Ronel Rebustes, Joey Reyes, Bernabe Aquino, Rod Cosete, Arlito Pastrana, Darrel Recio and Ronelo Rentino – were ordered to explain their side before the investigating body last week.
Other members of the full-blown investigating body are Provincial General Services officer Medelia Solanoy, Provincial Human Resource Management officer Methuselah Santamaria and acting Provincial Legal officer Atty. Lorelei Laserna-Rovero.
On Sept. 21, inmate JR Isuga Ruiz escaped from the provincial jail in Barangay Nalook, Kalibo. Another inmate Jose Tropa also bolted his jail guard in Batangas port last Oct. 1 after attending a court hearing in Manila.
Ruiz, who faces rape charges, was taken into custody on Sept. 28 in Malinao, Aklan. Meanwhile, Tropa, charged for double murder, remains at large.
Ruiz was reported missing during a count at the jail about 5:30 p.m. He climbed the perimeter fence at the back portion of ARC./PN