3 Caloocan prisoners bolt jail

MANILA, Philippines –  Three inmates escaped from the Caloocan City Jail by making a rope out of at least five denim pants to scale the perimeter fence before dawn yesterday.

Murder suspect Regie de Guzman, 22; and robbery suspects Allen Palatao, 26, and Mark Anthony Layugan, 23, are now the subjects of a police manhunt.

Jail warden Superintendent Lyndon Torres said they learned of the jailbreak at around 6:30 a.m. during the accounting of prisoners.

Torres said that during the initial investigation, they found out that the prison alarm system and the electricity running through the jail’s perimeter fence had been turned off.

Torres said they also learned that Jail Officer 3 Marino Timbal, who was supposed to be guarding Tower 2 as a midnight shift guard, went to his post late because he acted as the desk officer when desk officer on duty Senior Jail Officer 2 Domy Patnugot and his assistant, Jail Officer 3 Rommel Galit, reported late to their designated assignments.

Deputy warden Senior Inspector Don Paredes said they recovered a makeshift rope made of shirts and denim pants under Tower 2 at the southern portion of the jail’s building.