Policeman faces raps for inmate's escape

CEBU, Philippines - A police officer from Poro Police Station is now charged with grave misconduct by the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB) after a detainee escaped from their stockade a year ago.

PO2 Rod Villamor was subjected to a summary hearing yesterday at the Police Regional Office-7. The next hearing will be on March 7 wherein Poro Police Chief, Insp. Bernabe Coyoca, will give his statement.

Villamor was tagged as responsible for the escape of 65-year-old Jaime Larosa of Puertobello, Tudela. The escapee was caught again on the same day.

Atty. Julius Ompad, deputy chief of the PIDMB, told The FREEMAN that Villamor’s violation was infidelity in the custody of the prisoner and he will be charged with grave misconduct.

“Siya man gud ang niabli sa prisohan even if he is not the jailer,” Ompad said.

 Ompad narrated that it was in November last year when Villamor asked Larosa to throw the pail of human waste outside the cell. The detainees were using an improvised toilet bowl.

Larosa never returned.

According to Coyoca, he was having coffee at a nearby store in front of their station when Villamor rushed to him informing him of the escape.

“Nangangha ko kay mga 30 minutes after the escape na man ko gisultian basin nahadlok pa nga makasab-an nako,” he said. (I was surprised why he told me about the escape 30 minutes after it happened. Maybe he was afraid I would scold him.)

Coyoca said they found Larosa at his house and arrested him.

The police chief added that when they returned him to the stockade he even tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrist. He was taken to the Maningo District Hospital in San Francisco. The inmate reportedly used a broken slab of a tile from their stockade’s flooring.

Larosa was arrested for acts of lasciviousness after he was accused of molesting his neighbor, a minor. (FREEMAN)