Four minors escaped from rehab center, recaptured minutes after

Four juvenile inmates escaped Friday from the Operation Second Chance rehabilitation center in barangay Kalunasan, and tasted a few minutes of freedom until jailguards with the help of barangay tanods in the area captured them back.

The discovery of the escape of the four came after jailguard, JO1 Joel Bantaya, who was at the watchtower at the time, saw two others who were about to climbed out of the fence to freedom.

Inspector Merlina Metante, the OSC warden, told The Freeman that Bantaya warned and ordered the two minors to stop, then went down the tower to collar the two unsuccessful escapees.

Bantaya immediately warned the other reserved jailguards and the duty staffs about the escape try of the two. This prompted the conduct of a count of the 93 inmates, and it was found out that four were missing. A check outside by JO2 Renante Ramirez confirmed that the four had escaped ahead of the two that Bantaya caught.

Ramirez went to track down the four escapees, and with the help of Kalunasan tanods, led by Dioscoro Lagnasan, scoured the Peace Valley area where they found and arrested the four boys.

Metante, in an investigation later, learned that the boys first found a broken metal saw, roughly about three inches long. They converted it as a cutting tool, and tied it to a wooden handle with a piece of cloth that they tore from their blankets.

They then used the improvised tool to cut the upper part of the cell window’s flat-metal bar, which they later bent until broken. They escaped through this opening.

Metante praised Bantaya for his initiative of informing the other guards about the jailbreak, which resulted in the recapture of the four. The warden said that two of the escapees were second-timers in the center for the same offense of theft, while the third one has been detained for robbery, and the fourth for rape.

The OSC has one houseparent on duty at that time, hired by the social services office of the City Hall to take charge of the welfare of the minor inmates. She was Celestina Obaob, detailed as the key keeper, who was then with guards from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the reserved jailguards. — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE