Pentagon leader Marohombsar escapes from Crame jail

Suspected Pentagon Gang chieftain Faisal Marohombsar and two of his henchmen escaped from their heavily guarded detention cell at Camp Crame yesterday morning, police confirmed yesterday.

Incoming Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. confirmed that Marohombsar was reported missing from his detention cell at the headquarters of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) at Camp Crame along with a certain Abdul Macaumpang and Rolando Patiño.

Ebdane initially tried to cover up the escape but later confirmed that Marohombsar managed to outwit his police guards.

According to initial investigations, the three men were locked up together and were recently transferred to another cell for a still unspecified reason.

Ebdane said Marohombsar deceived his guards into believing that they were safely locked up inside their cell although they had already changed the padlock of their cell and were already planning their escape.

They hatched their escape between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. and walked out of their cell and proceeded to the back of the NAKTAF building where they scaled the wall of the NAKTAF compound under the very noses of their police custodians.

Ebdane admitted that there must be gross laxity among the policemen guarding the NAKTAF detention cells but dismissed suggestions that Marohombsar’s escape may have been an "inside job."

Ebdane said an investigation is already underway to determine how Marohombsar escaped and police were now out to re-arrest him.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MILF), of which Marohombsar used to be a member, has also directed its members to help the police arrest him.

MNLF secretary general and Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema said he was willing to "shell out a considerable amount of money" in exchange for any information leading to Marohombsar’s arrest.

In Cotabato City, Marohombsar’s relatives said he would likely return to Mindanao and hide among his well-armed friends and relatives in the towns of Ganasi or Sultan Gumander in Lanao del Sur.

A prominent Maranao clan, the Marohombsars hail from Lanao del Sur’s Unayan area, which groups the towns of Malabang, Ganasi, Sultan Gumander, Kalanugas, Malabang and Pualas, all Maranao communities.

Other relatives believe Marohombsar may hide in Kabuntalan, a secluded town in Lanao del Sur’s second district.

In Marawi City, Maranao leaders have also urged police to put under tight surveillance all of Marohombsar’s wealthy relatives in the area who have helped him in the past.

"They have darkly tinted luxury cars and mansions (in Marawi) and in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro," said a Maranao government official who asked not to be identified.

Marohombsar was arrested By NAKTAF agents on Feb. 16 during a raid on the Hasmaija Lodge along Elizondo street in Quiapo, Manila.

He is suspected of founding – along with a certain Tahir Alonto – the Pentagon kidnapping gang that operates in Central Mindanao and is believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of four Chinese engineers, Canadian Pierre Belanger last year, businesswoman Cecilia Bonifacio and Italian missionary priest Guiseppe Pierantoni.

He is also believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of one Florentino Congson and his son Jojo in Cotabato City in 1992 who were only released after the payment of P5 million ransom on Aug. 23 last year.

Marohombsar’s string of criminal activities has gained notoriety among Maranaos who had repeatedly warned government officials in the past against trusting Marohombsar, whom they described as a "ruthless and wily criminal."

He surrendered to the DILG in 1992 but soon resumed his criminal activities, police said.

Officials said Marohombsar, who called himself a separatist rebel allegedly as a cloak for his criminal activities, surrendered to the government twice and received hefty cash assistance for livelihood projects that would supposedly wean him from the underworld.

But despite the opportunities to reform, Marohombsar repeatedly returned to a life of banditry in Central Mindanao.

Ebdane himself appeared to be familiar with Marohombsar’s modus operandi and urged the government to ignore the surrender feelers Marohombsar floated through radio and print media in January.

Ebdane had said Marohombsar should surrender unconditionally because he had repeatedly abused the government’s amnesty program for genuine separatist rebels.