3 inmates escape Bilibid; SWAT and police search area
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:34 p.m.) — Three inmates escaped the New Bilibid Prison’s Maximum Security Compound wee hours of Monday, the Bureau of Corrections said.
The BuCor said the three escaped inmates are “considered armed and dangerous” and has urged the public to notify authorities of information on them.
They may report to BuCor through its hotlines 09178049362 and 09186001081, or to the nearest police station.
LOOK: Three inmates have escaped the Maximum Security Compound of New Bilibid Prison, according to Bureau of Corrections.
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According to BuCor, the escapees are "armed and dangerous." pic.twitter.com/U1k34iSoxx
“Coordination and recovery efforts are ongoing,” BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag added.
The three inmates escaped at around 1:20 a.m. of Monday. A report from the bureau said the three inmates shot at the duty guard at Gate 4 of the compound and then proceeded to Gate 3 when they again shot at the duty guard.
They exited through Sitio Magdaong, a Bilibid reservation area.
“Said duty guards sustained gunshot wounds and were brought to the Ospital ng Muntinlupa for medical treatment,” BuCor said adding that SWAT and police officers were deployed to the area to conduct pursuit and investigation.
In an update on Monday afternoon, Chaclag said escaped frustrated homicide convict Pacifico Adlawan was killed in a pursuit operation by the local police and BuCor officials.
They also recovered a 9mm pistol with live bullets and spent shells near Adlawan’s body.
The Philippine National Police, for its part, said they all their units in the National Capital Region have been alerted of the escaped prisoners and they will assist the BuCor for their recapture.
“As national prisoners who are serving sentence for their crime, warrantless arrest applies for their immediate arrest on sight by any member of law enforcement agency or its deputized agents,” it added.
Disciplinary action on BuCor officials
The escape of the inmates happened weeks after a deadly riot also erupted in the Bilibid where improvised firearms were used and later seized by prison authorities.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters that no official report on the incident has been submitted to him but he ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the recent riots in Bilibid and the escape of the prisoners.
“I will also recommend to the Office of the President that disciplinary action be taken against BuCor officials who may be found guilty of gross neglect of duty,” he also said.
NBI foils alleged escape attempt of Kerwin Espinosa
Also on Monday, the National Bureau of Investigation said agents foiled an escape attempt by alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and two others.
NBI Officer-in-Charge Director Eric Distor said the chief of the bureau’s Security Management Section received information that Espinosa and two other detainees “are planning to escape our detention facility through the hole of the exhaust fan at the ceiling.”
The same night, the bureau conducted an inspection of the jail and found a deformed exhaust fan, which, when removed, “exposed a hole fit for a detainee to escape.”
Distor added: “In view of this incident, security measures at the jail has since been tightened with regular inspection of jail facilities.”
Guevarra also told reporters that the NBI will submit a report on the alleged escape attempt by the detainees on Monday
“I have instructed the agency to intensify intelligence work and tighten up security in its detention facility, especially with respect to high-profile detainees such as [Espinosa],” he added.
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