Pajero Lady’s jail guards relieved

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Vicente Vinarao has ordered the relief of the two jail guards of the National Correction Institute for Women (NCIW) pending an investigation into the escape of a prisoner from a hospital last Tuesday.

The bureau is set to file administrative and criminal charges against Benedicto Ortega and Allan Listana, who were escorting and guarding convicted swindler and thief Marilou de Guzman, known as the Pajero Lady, at the St. Lukes Hospital in Quezon City.

The jail guards face charges of infidelity in custody of prisoners for their "failure to prevent the escape of De Guzman as they had been tasked."

New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Superintendent Juanito Leopando said if they are able to prove that Ortega and Listana had connived with De Guzman, both jail guards would automatically be dismissed from the service.

Leopando said the bureau has sent a special investigating team to the NCIW and the hospital .

It was also learned by The STAR that initial evidence indicates there was neglect by the two guards.

Video from the hospital’s closed circuit TV cameras showed Garcia roaming around the hospital lobby in civilian clothes. She was alone and without any control tag for patients.

"Dapat naka-uniform siya at hindi siya dapat palibot-libot sa ospital nang walang guard na katabi," one BuCor official said.

De Guzman reportedly escaped from the hospital while the two guards were eating at the canteen on the ground floor.

The police and BuCor have launched a manhunt for the prisoner.

Leopando revealed that it was the second time for De Guzman to be taken to the hospital. She was first confined last May, but was brought back to the NCIW due to lack of clearance from the Department of Justice.

The prisoner returned to the hospital after she was given a medical pass.

De Guzman was arrested by Quezon City police last February while trying to break into an apartment.

In 1996, she was convicted in absentia for a string of 25 criminal cases including carnapping, estafa and theft.

Her modus operandi involves befriending house helpers then breaking into houses to steal valuable items. In her criminal activities, she usually uses Mitsubishi Pajero vehicles.

Among the victims of the Pajero Lady were several military generals and prominent Filipino-Chinese businessmen.

Garcia had attempted to change her identity by undergoing plastic surgery and tried to make it appear that she died in a car accident, but police investigators found out that her fingerprints did not match those from the charred remains found inside the car.