3 Sta. Rosa jail guards sacked

Interior and Local Government SecretaryAngelo Reyes has ordered the filing of administrative and criminal charges against the three jail guards of the Sta. Rosa Jail in Laguna for the escape of 23 inmates last weekend.

Reyes ordered the conduct of the probe on Jail Officer 2 Renato Tulaylay, JO1 Luis Banoey Jr. and Senior Jail Officer 1 Jerry Provido, who were the on-duty guards when the 23 inmates bolted out of jail by sawing off the iron grills of their detention cell.

"We have relieved all the people involved. There were three jail guards on duty and initial investigation showed that there were lapses in the performance of their duties. Administrative sanctions have been applied and criminal actions will be taken against them," Reyes said. "We will not allow such (actions tantamount to) infidelity in the performance of duty."

DILG Undersecretary Marios Corpus and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) chief Director Arturo Alit conducted an occular inspection in jail last Sunday, shortly after learning about the escape.

Reyes did not mention if Sta. Rosa City jail warden Senior Inspector Bernie Ruiz will also be included in the investigation for command responsibility.

Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Varilla, director for the PNP Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) police office, said the local police is now conducting manhunt operations against 16 of the 22 prisoners, who bolted out of the jail.

Varilla said he has directed Cavite Provincial Police chief Senior Superintendent Roberto Rosales to map out the security operations that will lead to the capture of the rest of the escapees.

"After the jailbreak, I directed my provincial director to recapture the inmates. Its up for the BJMP to sanction their personnel . . . We are just helping the BJMP to track down the escapees," Varilla told reporters at Camp Crame yesterday.

Majority of the escapees were facing drug offenses, while another one was jailed for rape and another man was facing homicide.