BuCor readies charges vs sentence evader

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is set to file charges against a convicted drug lord who escaped with the help of his common-law wife and three prison guards who were transferring him from the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro to the San Ramon Prison Farm in Zamboanga.

BuCor Director Vicente Vinarao said they will file charges of evasion of sentence against Henry Co, who managed to escape during a stopover in Manila.

Co and fellow prisoner Al Navarro were being escorted by prison guards Benny Rago, July Silva and Hilario Diomampo of the Sablayan prison when they made a stopover at a hotel in Pasig City last Saturday night.

"It was improper for the guards to bring the prisoners in such a place during their stopover in Manila.

"If they really needed a place to spend the night before traveling for Zamboanga, they should have turned Co and Navarro to the National Bilibid Prisons. If that was not possible, they could have proceeded to the nearest provincial or municipal jail," Vinarao said.

The BuCor chief said Co’s common-law wife, identified as Marie Flor Cimanez, faces charges of being an accessory to evasion of sentence.

The guards, after sleeping in a separate room, found out the following morning that Co and Cimanez were already gone.

Vinarao said he will suspend the erring prison guards for three months as well as file administrative charges against them.

"After which, charges of infidelity in the custody of prisoners done through connivance will again be filed against Rago, Silva and Diomampo," Vinarao added.

He noted that the penalty awaiting said prison guards include six to 12 years imprisonment and a "special perpetual disqualification," which means they cannot be accepted to any position in government for life.

"We are still getting Navarro’s testimony. He will soon be sent to the Zamboanga Prison Farm. The guards, on the other hand, will be turned over to their commander in Sablayan," Vinarao pointed out.

Earlier, police investigators in Manila were able to extract the truth from the prison guards, who initially claimed that Co was abducted by armed men in Ermita when they made a stopover in Manila. – Rhodina Villanueva