Last of Caloocan jail escapees captured

The last of the five inmates who bolted the Northern Police District-District Police Intelligence Unit (NPD-DPIU) jail in Caloocan City last month was re-arrested in an operation Saturday in Bataan.

"All are accounted for," NPD director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil told reporters yesterday when he presented to media the fifth inmate to be re-arrested, Genesis Agustin.

Agustin, 19, who faces charges of alarm and scandal, robbery snatching, and illegal possession of deadly weapon, was arrested by the DPIU agents, led by SPO4 Rodrigo Torio, in Barangay Pag-asa, Dinalupihan, Bataan at around 5:30 a.m.

"We have been hunting him for more than a month and when we learned that he was in Bataan, we wasted no time in proceeding to the area. Our effort paid off," Superintendent Reynaldo Orante, the new DPIU chief, told The STAR.

Bataoil commended the work of his intelligence operatives, headed by Superintendent Jimili Macaraeg, chief of the District Intelligence and Investigation Division (DIID), for the arrest of all the escapees.

The NPD-DIID was adjudged last week as Metro Manila’s best district intelligence division in performance evaluation rating besting four other districts in the third quarter of this year.

During the height of a heavy downpour on the night of Sept. 11, Agustin, with four other detainees — Salvador Eugenio, Faustino Sampang, Marvin Rubio and Romeo Villaruz — escaped from the DPIU cell by destroying the rusty iron grill of their cell’s gate.

The detainees applied margarine on their bodies and on the iron bars of the cell gate as lubricant so they could easily squeeze between the gap.

Bataoil ordered a massive manhunt for the escapees, who were facing minor charges ranging from robbery with physical injuries, illegal possession of deadly weapon and alarm and scandal.

He sacked then DPIU chief Superintendent Maximino Valiente and ordered the seven DPIU operatives who were supposed to be on duty during the escape charged for negligence.

A day after the jailbreak, one of the escapees, Villaruz, for fear of his safety, voluntarily surrendered through Senior Inspector Ferdie del Rosario in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.

On Sept. 19, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) agents apprehended Sampang and Rubio in Bayambang, Pangasinan.

A week later, DPIU agents also arrested Eugenio in Barangay Cagsaw, Cabalanga, Camarines Sur.

"I’m commending the manhunt team for their relentless operations and observance of police operational procedures," Bataoil said.

He also ordered yesterday the renovation and repair of all police detention cells in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident.