2 Zambo escapees, cop killed in shootout

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Two of the seven inmates who bolted the Zamboanga del Sur provincial jail last Monday afternoon and a policeman were killed in a shootout in Pagadian City yesterday, authorities said.

Director Felicisimo Khu, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation Western Mindanao, said another police officer and a jail guard were wounded in the shootout in Sitio Bayview, Barangay Santa Maria.

Khu identified the slain escapees as Ronaldo Llanes Penonio and Alex Patcho Abas, and the slain lawman was PO2 Charles Bajolo. Wounded were PO2 Richard Carreon and jail guard Noel Tadlas.

Khu said pursuit operations were ongoing for the five other escapees. He said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Region 9 were investigating if the jailbreakers acted on their own or an outside armed group helped them escape. – With Rose Tamayo, Cecille Suerte Felipe