16 detainees bolt Pasay City jail; 3 recaptured

Sixteen detainees bolted the Pasay City jail late last Saturday night, by sawing off their cell’s steel bars.

Chief Inspector Isagani Gamino, jail warden, is now in hot water for the jailbreak that took place at around 10:30 p.m. before the last head count of detainees for the day.

Jail Officer 1 Marcelino Dalacan, who was on duty during the jailbreak, told investigators that he was conducting the headcount at the second floor of the city jail when he noticed that the lights of a cell in the corner of the floor was turned off.

When he went to check, he saw that the cell was empty and that the steel bars of the window were gone.

The escapees had apparently climbed out of the window, walked along the floor’s balcony and leaped to the ground below, right under the nose of jail and police officers nearby.

Immediate manhunt operations resulted in the re-arrest of three escapees identified as Edurado Cortalla, Antonio Leonon and Christopher Marilag, all detained for theft charges.

Thirteen of the escapees remain at large.

The Pasay City jail is housed in three upper floors of a four-story building.

The ground floor is partially occupied by the Pasay City police criminal investigation office, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) office and the police clearance division.

The building is just behind the city hall and is a mere stone’s throw away from the Pasay City police headquarters inside the city government center.