BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Five prisoners, one of whom was a notorious suspected crime group leader, bolted out of their detention cells early yesterday morning at the Negros Occidental District Jail (NODJ) in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City, Negros Occidental.
Authorities identified the escapees as Alejandro Montoya, Daniel Tamon, and brothers Marvin and Danilo Celeste. Francisco Epogon, reportedly the leader of the notorious Epogon robbery hold-up group, was also able to escape.
Policemen already set up their border checkpoints. A manhunt operation has also been launched.
Based on initial information released by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), they discovered the escape after the duty shift supervisor conducted an inspection and spotted an improvised rope at the jail’s perimeter fence near Tower No. 2.
Initial investigation revealed that the prisoners may have sawed the steel bars of Cell No. 6. Once out of the cell, the five climbed the perimeter fence and saw their way down using the improvised rope made of old clothes, it added.
Further information on the five’s criminal backgrounds showed they have charges ranging from murder, attempted homicide, carnapping, acts of lasciviousness, robbery with intimidation, robbery with homicide, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
In a separate interview, Police Master Sergeant Leonel Gepaya, intelligence officer at the Cauayan municipal police station, said they served a warrant of arrest against Epogon on June 21 after tracking him down at the town’s Barangay Isio.
During the arrest, Gepaya revealed that they also recovered a fragmentation grenade from the suspect.
Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Corpuz, Victorias City police chief, meanwhile said the Celeste brothers and Montoya were charged with carnapping, robbery, attempted homicide, and illegal possession of firearms. He said the brothers were residents of the city’s Barangay Gawahon.
In response to the incident, BJMP spokesperson Atty. Jairus Anthony Dogelio said Jail Superintendent Pricel Arevalo has been relieved from his post as jail warden of the NODJ.
Replacing Arevalo is Jail Chief Inspector Abner Zamora./PN
