CEBU, Philippines - Three detainees of Toledo City Police Station took advantage of the heavy rains Saturday night and escaped at around 10 p.m.
The escapees, Joselito Rebaya, Nilo Lombreno, and Apolinario Canumay, remain at large as of press time.
Rebaya of Barangay Don Andres Soriano is facing charges of illegal possession of firearms while Canumay of Barangay Talavera is detained for frustrated murder charges. They were both arrested last month.
Lombreno, of Barangay Biga, has a pending case for rape and was arrested last January.
PO1 Jerson Lebumfacil, desk officer and jailer, said he conducted a headcount around 10 p.m. when he noticed that three detainees were missing.
They allegedly cut the grill of the back window of the detention cell using a hacksaw.
Lebumfacil told The FREEMAN that he did a headcount when he started his tour of duty at around 8:30 p.m. He did another headcount at 9:00 p.m. and all of the nine detainees were still there.
However, during his headcount at 10 p.m., he noticed that only six inmates were left in the cell.
“They took advantage of the heavy rain. If I did not check the cell again, all of them could have escaped,†Lebumfacil said in a phone interview.
Police recovered a hacksaw without handle at the back of the detention cell.
The police conducted a hot pursuit operation to recapture the escapees.
One of the inmates told the police that it was Lombreno’s wife, Angelina, who handed the hacksaw to her husband. However, Lebumfacil could no longer remember the day she visited her husband.
This prompted the police to arrest Angelina at their residence. She will be charged for obstruction of justice.
Lebumfacil suspected that the detainees have been sawing the iron grill for a few weeks before the escape happened.
Lebumfacil said he is ready to face investigation by the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) because of the incident. — (FREEMAN)