Manhunt on for 2 Bilibid escapees

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has dispatched tracker teams to hunt down two convicts who escaped from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City last Dec. 9.

BuCor Director Gaudencio Pangilinan said that they also have coordinated with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies, to help track down Roger Taures and Bayen Abbas.

“We are hopeful that they were not able to slip out of Metro Manila because of the heightened security in seaports, bus terminals and airports during the holidays. The manhunt will go on and they will be caught eventually,” he said.

He also maintained the two convicts are not Abu Sayyaf members and were serving their sentence at the NBP’s medium security compound.

Reports reaching The STAR showed that Abbas, 45, of Maharlika Village in Taguig, is serving a life sentence for kidnapping for ransom. Taures, 48, of Iloilo City, was convicted of serious illegal detention.

The two reportedly bolted jail by cutting an escape hole through a makeshift room they shared and then through a perimeter fence of the medium security compound. A bolt cutter was found near the concrete wall.

Pangilinan said all high-profile convicts, including the Abu Sayyaf are all secured at the facility’s maximum security compound.