'Poison Ivy' spotted in Zamboanga

MANILA, Philippines - A housemaid convicted of poisoning and robbing her employers and their families in Manila and Quezon City has been sighted in Zamboanga province two months after she broke out of jail, a police official said yesterday.

Anamae Livrando may be “planning to continue her evil ways in the province or escape through the backdoor in the southern province,” Senior Superintendent Nelson Yabut told The STAR.

Yabut arrested Livrando – dubbed “Poison Ivy” by police investigators – in 2008 following complaints by eight Filipino-Chinese families in Binondo. He said he was informed by a reliable source that the escapee is in Zamboanga.

Yabut has been doing a background profiling of Livrando’s identified friends with “whom she may seek refuge.”

Livrando, who is serving her sentence for multiple serious physical injuries and robbery, escaped from the Women’s Correctional on Nov. 19, 2011. In a letter she left in her cell, she told correctional director Superintendent Rachel Ruelo she had no faith in the country’s penal system.

Livrando escaped from the Manila City Jail in 2008 while she was being tried for frustrated homicide and robbery. She was rearrested in August 2011 after victimizing two more families.

Livrando had reportedly vowed to continue her criminal activities once she regains freedom. Her modus operandi is to befriend security guards of high-end condominiums and later asked them to vouch for her character when she applies for a job as a housemaid.

Once employed, she would mix poison in the food she prepares for the family and other helpers in the house. She then steals her employer’s possessions while they are in the hospital.