Fair Bank massacre suspect loose: Guard who slew three bolts jail

CEBU, Philippines - Two persons, one of them held responsible for killing three people before robbing a bank in Daanbantayan town last New Year’s Eve, bolted from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-Medellin in broad daylight Thursday while inmates were being allowed out of their cells for sunning and exercise.

BJMP personnel were alerted to the escape only after former security guard Berly Tudtud and Roger Lagahit were seen by residents as they jumped from the perimeter fence of the jail.

The perimeter fence was about four meters tall and topped with barbed wire.

Tudtud is charged with robbery with homicide for the Fair Bank massacre while Lagahit is also charged with attempted murder in a separate case.

Inspector Leonilo Gimenez, the jail warden, said they normally have sunning and exercise for the inmates of the jail from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. There were 18 at the time including the two.

“Ang mga inmates na-mix nana apil na ang mga tiguwang tanan… nag-watering ug nag-maintain sa sanitation and cleanliness sa lugar,” Gimenez said.

Tudtud and Lagahit were able to scale the fence using a coco lumber plank four inches wide, 2 inches thick and about a meter and a half long. Police suspect they leaned it against the wall and helped each other climb it to reach the top.

“Gipasandig nila ang kahoy unya nagtabang-tabang silang duha pasaka which I wonder giunsa nila pagsaka before sila nakalayat agi sa luyo unya nanagan and it was the time when they were seen by residents outside the compound,” Gimenez said.

He added that there was a stockroom near the wall where the two inmates could have hidden prior to their escape.

Even the compound guard Jail Officer 1 Reynald  Hinogin did not notice the escape. It was during headcount when BJMP personnel identified that it was Tudtud and Lagahit who bolted.

“Wala lang namo ma-notice nga duna diay sila’y plano kay mga buotan man sa sulod ug bisan sa trabaho,” Gimenez said.

The BJMP is now coordinating with the police stations of Medellin, Bogo and Daanbantayan as well as with the barangay captains and barangay tanods of those towns for the possible arrest of the two.

Tudtud used his service 12-gauge shotgun to kill fellow Fair Bank security guard Dean Deserto, 26, of Barangay Dakit, Bogo City; Deserto’s live-in partner Cecilia Torre, 30, also of Dakit; and Jenelyn Megabon, 26, of Medellin town, last New Year’s Eve.

He then ran away with the P80,000 cash from the steel cabinet of the bank and left for Negros Province where he was later arrested by the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch.

He admitted to the crime but said he never planned to rob the bank. He said he only did it after he killed the three.

Meanwhile, the Medellin municipal government posted a message on a social networking site informing residents of barangays Curva, Tindog, Panugnawan, Da-lingding and Canhabagat to immediately inform authorities if they happen to see two wounded people.

Police suspect the two escapees could have been injured when they passed through the barbed wire.

“Adunay duha ka piniriso naka eskapo sa BJMP district jail ug nakit-an nga diha sa katobhan misirit. Kining duha puros mga samaran gumikan sa ilang pag agi sa koral nga barbed wire ug may mamatikdan kamo nga tao nga wa ninyo ilhi ug may mga samad sa bukton ipahibaw dayun sa mga awtoridad,” the message read.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)