Cops probe slain kidnap suspect's 'prison pass'

MANILA, Philippines - Police are looking into reports that one of the four slain kidnap-for-ransom suspects who were killed in a shootout with policemen in Parañaque City Thursday morning was supposed to be still detained at a provincial jail in Masbate.

Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr., executive officer of Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO-Southern Luzon) told The STAR that he received information that Alberto Choy, 42, was serving his sentence for his involvement in the killing of former Masbate City Mayor Moises Espinosa but had gotten out of prison without doing a jailbreak.

Choy, along with Emmanuel Pineda, 54; Rogelio Ortega, 56; and Eric Ogdol, 32, were identified by Gerald Tiu, 34, as the armed men who abducted him in front of his office at SOS Enterprises in Quezon City.

The suspects were slain in a shootout with Southern Police District policemen along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Barangay Tambo in Parañaque following reports that the group was about to conduct an operation in the area.

Laciste said his men are now investigating why Choy was able to obtain some sort of “prison pass.” The suspect reportedly belonged to the Quidato Group in Masbate, whose members were allegedly involved in a series of assassinations of high-profile personalities.

“There are reports that Choy was turned over by officials of the Masbate provincial jail to the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa,” Laciste said. However, NBP Director Oscar Calderon said Choy had been released a long time ago after serving his sentence for illegal possession of firearms. Choy was again turned over to the Masbate jail for a separate murder case, Laciste added.

Choy’s parents are seeking the protection of government officials in the province after they were reportedly pressured by unnamed jail officials to sign documents that their son had escaped from prison last year, Laciste said.    

Laciste and his men, together with the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response, rescued Tiu from his abductors in Rodriguez, Rizal which resulted in the death of a suspect and the arrest of the safehouse’s caretaker, Jay Jambonggana.

Choy and his cohorts managed to escape the police dragnet in Rizal province but were eventually intercepted in Parañaque City.

Choy’s group was allegedly responsible for kidnapping Samantha Uidin in Caloocan City last February and Zaldy Villa in Antipolo City last April.