Escapee from Leyte prison falls after 30 years

MANILA, Philippines - A convicted killer, who escaped from prison in Leyte in 1982, was captured in Quezon City Saturday.

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Superintendent Mario dela Vega said they were able to trace Jose Celedio, now 65, at his current home based on a tip from an informant. Celedio was staying with his partner and their four children.

Dela Vega said the tipster even provided a map leading to the exact site of the house in Barangay Old Balara. He said members of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) effected the arrest on Saturday.

QCPD-CIDU head Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo said Celedio, who is suffering from pneumonia, was asleep when police arrived at past 2 p.m. that day.

Marcelo said the QCPD acted on the request of the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog town in capturing the fugitive after an informant revealed the location of Celedio in Quezon City.

Celedio escaped the Leyte prison back in 1982 and even killed a prison guard in the process. He was supposed to serve a maximum of 29 years of imprisonment after being convicted in 1978 for two counts of homicide for having killed Manuel Magno and Perforio Diano.

Celedio, who is currently detained at the QCPD-CIDU, claimed he did not kill Magno and Diano. He said the three of them were drinking in front of a store in Leyte when Magno and Diano started to fight and stab each other following an argument over a carabao.