Rob gang leader escapes from NBP

MANILA, Philippines - The convicted leader of a notorious robbery gang escaped from the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City yesterday.

Ricky Cadavero alias “Kambal,” leader of the Ozamiz robbery syndicate, escaped with the help of three unidentified men who took the jail guards at gunpoint, initial police reports said.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Cadavero was sprung out by suspected gangmates who posed as his lawyer and visitors at the prison’s Reception and Diagnostic Center (RDC) at about 6:20 a.m.

Initial reports said a brief firefight ensued when prison guards shot it out with Cadavero’s rescuers as they escaped on two motorcycles.

NCRPO director Leonardo Espina said police have deployed tracker teams to assist the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in tracking down and recapturing Cadavero.

BuCor officer-in-charge Raffy Ragos said the suspects have already been identified and a certain “General Cruz” is already probing the incident. He refused to elaborate.

Muntinlupa police chief Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa said one of the visitors introduced himself as Cadavero’s lawyer.

This enabled the men to approach the RDC’s first gate. There are three security gates in the RDC.

The guards then brought Cadavero out.

The “visitors” waited as the guards brought Cadavero to the second gate.

“When they reached the second gate, the (visitors) aimed their guns at the prison guards, snatched the keys, and took Cadavero out,” Capa said.

An official from the Department of Justice said the visitation was “too early from the usual.”

“Visitation in NBP starts at 8 a.m., especially in RDC, where there are only few inmates. The 6 a.m. visitation is, usually, only applicable to the maximum security compound where there are thousands of inmates,” the source said.

Cadavero was sentenced by a Quezon City court to serve 67 years in prison for his involvement in the robbery of a LandBank branch in Quezon City in 2008.

He was committed to the NBP on Oct. 23. It was Cadavero’s 44th day in the RDC on Sunday.

Under NBP’s protocol, new inmates are required to stay in the RDC for about 60 days as they undergo various examinations and familiarization. After that, RDC will decide in which of the three prison compounds – minimum, medium or maximum – the inmate will be detained.

On the other hand, Cadavero’s group, the Ozamiz robbery gang, was tagged behind the string of several big-time robberies in Metro Manila, including those in Robinsons Metro East, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Novaliches, Robinsons Dasmariñas and Alabang Town Center.

Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Mario de la Vega said they are monitoring the remnants of the group who suspected to be hiding out in Southern Luzon and some areas in Metro Manila.

De la Vega said they are monitoring these areas on the possibility that another jail escapee, Wilfredo Panongalinga Jr. alias “Kulot,” might rejoin the group.

Panongalinga was tagged in the robbery of a convenience store along Quezon Avenue last Nov. 25, where he allegedly shot and killed security guard Reynaldo Guiatao.

Panongalinga was charged with robbery with homicide last Thursday. He was also tagged in another robbery at a branch of 7-11 convenience store in Tondo, Manila that same day.

Police are also pointing to Panongalinga for a violent robbery in another 7-11 store in Malate in September, wherein he allegedly shot and killed American Robert Armstrong.

Inspector Elmer Monsalve of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) said Panongalinga is considered to be among the remnants of the Ozamiz gang following the arrest of Cadavero last October.

Monsalve said the main base of this busted group’s remnants is in a town in Southern Luzon but did not elaborate.

He said the group had another safe house somewhere in Metro Manila as the staging point for their criminal activities. – With Mike Frialde, Perseus Echeminada, Reinir Padua