Two convicts bolt NBP

Shortage in security personnel allowed two juvenile convicts to escape from the medium-security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City last Wednesday evening.

Emy Divina, NBP public information officer-in-charge, identified them as rape convict Rommel Meneses, 21, and thief Rodolfo Corpuz, 19.

The NBP dispatched their recovery teams immediately after they learned of the escape.

It was during the 6 p.m. head count last Wednesday that they noticed two were missing. Failing to find them after an hour and a half of searching within the prison compound, teams were dispatched to hunt for them. They also sent a flash alarm to all police stations.

"One of the witnesses said he saw the two convicts climb the fence, which is about 10 meters high, located near the unmanned Tower No. 9," Divina said.

She said that the tower is under the jurisdiction of the Reception and Diagnostic Center situated beside the medium-security compound.

She lamented that the NBP does not have enough guards to keep watch on all inmates. They only have a total of 2,000 guards and civilian personnel for the estimated 25,000 inmates in all the compounds.

What makes the situation worse, she pointed out, was that not all of the guards are detailed inside the compound. Since some of the inmates require medical treatment, they have 122 guards at various hospitals ensuring that the convict stays in his room. — Evelyn Macairan