8 inmates bolt Ormoc City jail

A jail guard was killed while another was seriously wounded when eight inmates bolted the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Ormoc City last Sunday, police said yesterday.

Only one of the escapees was recaptured while seven are still at large and considered dangerous.

Police identified the fatality as Senior Jail Officer 1 Solomon Escalaña, who was shot by one of the inmates before they escaped from the BJMP Compound at around 3:30 p.m. Another jail guard, Jail Officer 1 Armando Tambal, is now in critical condition at a nearby hospital.

According to Jail Warden Senior Inspector Manuel Chan, the inmates made their move just as visiting day last Sunday were about to end. Four of the escapees reportedly rushed to Tambal, the lone guard at the gate and stabbed him four times in the abdomen and once in the neck using an improvised bladed weapon made from a sharpened spoon. They disarmed him of his service firearm, a caliber .45 pistol, and shot Escalaña who was on roving patrol.

After neutralizing the two guards, the inmates opened the jail armory and took two Armalite rifles. Other inmates followed and together they all fled on foot toward Barangay Hugpa in Ormoc City.

The escapees were identified as Danillo Domanillo, of Barangay Tambulilid, who is charged for murder; Juan Belaro, of Isabel, Leyte (murder); Nicanor Sano, of Barangay Tambulilid (murder); Allan Lepon, of Barangay San Isidro (theft); Rogelio Dagting, of San Isidro, Leyte (murder); Jayson Caseño, of Barangay Sto. Niño (rape); and Arnel Lumbay, Isabel town (illegal possession of firearms).

After receiving the alarm, Precinct I of the police deployed the City Mobile Group to conduct hot pursuit operations. It also sent a team from the Homicide Section led by PO3 Oscar Cobacha to investigate the incident. The chase yielded results 17 hours later when policemen recaptured Dagting in Barangay Biliboy.

Interviewed inside his hospital room at Ospa-Farmers Medical Center, Tambal said it was Dagting who first attacked him. Dagting, he added, could easily approach guards as he was assigned to guard the cell gate. He was also tasked to list the names of those who use the Conjugal Room. He admitted that he was caught unaware by the attack as he did not expect Dagting to hurt him considering his position as a trusted inmate.

Chan said the jail has already 114 inmates even if the facility can only accommodate only 40. — With Christina Mendez, AP