3 inmates bolt jail amid heavy rains

BURGOS, Pangasinan — Three inmates here took advantage of heavy rains last Tuesday, sawing off the iron grills of their cell and boring a hole through the perimeter fence.

Jailbreakers Bryan Marzan, 19; Edgardo Fernandez, 40; and Romeo Maghinay, 42, who are facing charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and robbery, respectively, are now being hunted down.

Their escape caused the relief of SJO4 Clemente Plastina, the jail warden, pending the results of an investigation into his and the jailguards’ liability.

Twenty-nine other prisoners remain at the district jail, which was built two years ago to serve this town and neighboring municipalities. The jail is located in Barangay Sapa Pequeña, some three kilometers away from the town proper.

In another development, police have filed charges of homicide and frustrated homicide against a provincial jailguard for the fatal shooting of an inmate and the wounding of another.

Initial reports said inmate Romualdo Padlan allegedly grabbed the 9mm service pistol of jailguard Elpidio Asis after the latter seized his cellular phone.

The gun, however, went off, hitting Padlan in the nose and eye, killing him on the spot. A stray bullet hit another inmate, Efren Manlubang. — Eva Visperas, Cesar Ramirez