Bro of CPDRC escapee accused of killing child

CEBU, Philippines - The younger brother of the inmate who escaped from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) last Thursday may join him in jail after being tagged responsible for the death of his three-year-old relative.

The victim, Dove Sarsona, succumbed to a gunshot wound on her back with the bullet exiting through the front part of her body after being shot by Marlo Dela Rosa on Sunday evening in Barangay Magcagong, Sibonga, in southern Cebu.

Dela Rosa, 24, is the victim’s relative and the younger brother of Renante Dela Rosa, the murder suspect who escaped from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center on Thursday.

Renante managed to escape the facility by jumping off the kitchen area after jail guards failed to notice his presence during the 6pm head count. However, he voluntarily surrendered Saturday afternoon.

The victim’s mother, Marialyn Sarsona, 31, rushed Dove to the Deiparine Medical Clinic in Barangay Poblacion before she was referred to Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, where she expired.

Prior to the shooting, Marialyn alleged that she was sitting at the sari-sari store inside their house with her mother, Gloria Nerosa, at about 9:30 in the evening when they heard a burst of gunfire outside their house.

Marialyn ran outside the house to check what happened bringing along a flashlight and there she saw Marlo hurriedly running towards the dark portion of a hill. When she went inside the house, Marialyn saw her daughter Dove already in a pool of blood and still under her mosquito net.

Police Inspector Rolando Evalle, Sibonga police chief, said that a family grudge, which started a few years ago, could be the motive of the crime.

 Evalle said the grudge stemmed after Renante killed the uncle of Marialyn which prompted the family of the latter to file a murder case against him.

Police suspected that Gloria may have been Marlo’s target but the little girl got hit instead.

Marlo strongly denied the crime even if he was positively identified by the victim’s mother. He was subjected yesterday to a paraffin test at the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory-7 in Camp Sotero Cabahug.

Meanwhile, security at CPDRC will be tightened after Capitol security consultant Cesar Veloso said he has reason to believe that illegal drugs lurk behind the walls of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

He said inmate Renante Dela Rosa could have taken drugs, which gave him the guts to escape last Thursday night. Prior to his escape, Dela Rosa reportedly acted uneasy and appeared dazed. These are reportedly manifestations of someone high on drugs.

“Akong pagtuo nalulong to siya sa drugas maong naka-dare og eskapo,” Veloso said.

Veloso said he does not believe Dela Rosa’s alibi that the latter escaped out of frustration after his mother was not allowed entry into CPDRC. Dela Rosa’s mother, a first time visitor, was not allowed to enter because she did not have an ID at that time.

Veloso said illegal drugs being sneaked into CPDRC is an issue that continues to hound the provincial jail.

Currently, he said, the police, jail guards, blue guards, and the Civil Security Unit inspect each other for possible contrabands hidden in their bodies.

Veloso said he paid a visit to CPDRC last Sunday and requested jail warden Alger Comendador to already furnish Governor Gwendolyn Garcia with the investigation report on the escape. The report was supposed to reach Garcia’s office yesterday.

Once the report is available, Veloso said the province’s Committee on Discipline and Investigation will open an investigation to determine if Comendador can be held liable.

Sought for comment, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 Director Jigger Montallana merely said all government officials perform their duties regularly.

“I expect them to do so,” he said.

Unfortunate as it may seem, Montallana said Filipinos are “innovative” in carrying out unscrupulous deeds such as sneaking contrabands into jails.

“Maro na sad ang mga kababayan nato. Ang uban isulod sa ilang private parts especially ang mga babaye mostly ang magdala, pati bata. They utilize less probable people,” Montallana said.     - (THE FREEMAN)