2 Caloocan jail inmates recaptured

Two more of the five inmates who bolted the District Police Intelligence Unit (DPIU) jail in Caloocan City over two weeks ago were recaptured in Pangasinan by Quezon City operatives last Tuesday, Northern Police District (NPD) officials announced yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, NPD director, said the arrest of Marvin Rubio, 25 and Faustino Sampang, 29, both of Caloocan City leaves just two of the five who escaped last Sept. 11 missing.

Rubio and Sampang were apprehended at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Barangay Tamaro, Bayambang, Pangasinan by operatives of the Quezon City Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (QC-CIDG), led by Superintendent Alfredo Orbeta.

Last week, Romeo Villaruz voluntarily surrendered to police after being swayed by his mother to give himself up to authorities. The mother said she feared for her son’s life.

Villaruz voluntarily submitted himself to a team, which took him from his mother’s house in Sapang Palay, Bulacan last Tuesday. He was forced to join the group after being told police would take it out on him if he remained at the DPIU holding cell.

Bataoil said a manhunt is ongoing for the re-arrest of the other two escapees, Agustin Genesis and Salvador Eugenio.

Investigation showed the QC-CIDG received information on the whereabouts of Rubio and Sampang, prompting them to proceed to the place and collar the escapees.

It will be recalled that at around 9 p.m. of Sept. 10, Sampang kicked hard on the weakly spot-welded bars locking them in and quickly glued them back using Epoxy smuggled in earlier.

At around 2 a.m. the next morning, with the noise muffled by heavy rains, the inmates detached the glued iron bars, rubbed margarine on the sides of the gap created and on their upper bodies, before squeezing themselves out of the cell and on to freedom.

The jailbreak prompted Bataoil to immediately relieve the DPIU chief.

Suspects cry foul

During an interview with reporters, the two recaptured inmates claimed they escaped because they were jailed for a crime they did not commit.

They said elements of the NPD approached them in Monumento last Sept. 5 and asked them to snatch cellular phones for them. When they refused, police planted evidence against them.

"Nung hindi kami pumayag na mang-snatch, dinala kami sa presinto at doon ay inutusan nila ang kanilang asset na ituro kami," Rubio said.

Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, chief of the CIDG-NCR, said he will coordinate with the NPD chief to verify the allegations.

"If evidence warrants, the CIDG will file administrative charges against the policemen, whom Rubio and Sampang accused of illegal activities," Dolina said. The two policemen were identified as PO3 Giovanni Fuentes and PO3 Honrado Punzalan.

In a text message to The STAR, Bataoil said the two policemen denied the allegations.

"Both maintained the two suspects were arrested "inflagrante delecto" in Caloocan City last Sept. 5 for possession of a bladed weapon and pen gun," Bataoil said.

The two officers noted that the suspects were seen urinating along the street with their weapons protruding, which caught their attention. They said they are willing to undergo a polygraph test, if necessary. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe