Aftermath of BBRC jailbreak: Guard cuts wrist as 3 inmates fall

A jailguard at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center, feeling responsible for Friday's jailbreak that saw six inmates make a desperate bid for freedom, tried to end his life hours later by slashing his wrist, even as the family of one of those who bolted alerted police when the escaped relative showed up at home with two other inmates in tow and caused their arrest.

Jail officer Victoriano Vince, new to the job and assigned to Tower 2 near where six inmates bore a hole through the antiquated walls of the BBRC that fateful Friday dawn, apparently failed to bear the burden of responsibility he felt over the escape and slashed his wrist with a broken mirror.

He was swiftly given medical attention and is now out of danger. But he will still have to face an investigation and could be meted administrative sanctions, according to jail warden Efren Nemeno.

It is being suspected that guards assigned at Tower 2 often leave their posts to escape the stench from a septic tank found just below the structure. Nevertheless, that is not enough reason for guards to abandon their posts, said Nemeno, whose idea of solving the problem is to provide guards assigned to this tower with face masks.

As Vince struggled with his conscience, three more of the six inmates who escaped fell back into the hands of the police, thanks in large part to the help and cooperation of the family of one of them. One inmate had fallen immediately after the escape.

The three were recaptured in Toong, one of the mountain barangays in Cebu City, where lived the family of one of them, Cesar Saban.

Saban sent a text message to his sister Eliza that he was coming with two other inmates, Garsol Gabuya and Emeric Abadiano. Eliza quickly notified BBRC officials.

Saban was arrested by a three-man team made up of jail officers Neil Rosaroso and Dennis Mahilom and police officer Devin Aquino of the Pardo police while Gabuya and Abadiano, who were armed with a gun and a knife, were allowed to get away for some distance from populated areas to where a larger team led by Nemeno accosted them, directed there by text messages sent by Saban's relatives who secretly followed the duo.

Back in custody, Gabuya admitted having orchestrated the escape, directing the boring of a hole with the use of a steel pipe and a piece of rock. The jail wall is apparently so weak with age, it only took no more than 15 minutes to punch the hole through.

Gabuya claimed he was prompted to escape because of the maltreatment he received in jail, a charge Nemeno quickly denied.

Nemeno instead said that Gabuya was always a trouble-maker, sometimes bolting off even in handcuffs after court hearings just for the kick of having the guards chase him.

Abadiano and Saban said they just took the opportunity to flee when they saw Gabuya and the others jump through the hole and made their bid for freedom.

Gabuya is in jail for robbery and so is Abadiano. Saban is in jail for murder.

Randy Java, in jail for drugs, was recaptured almost immediately after the escape. Only two others, Edgardo Batanes for drugs and Randy Rayala for murder, remain at large. - Flor Perolina and Norvie Misa