‘Inmate walked out of Bilibid’

MANILA, Philippines — New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmate Michael Cataroja simply walked out of the national penitentiary when he escaped in July, according to Angono municipal police chief Maj. Lauro Moratillo, who headed the team that recaptured the maximum security compound prisoner on Thursday.

Cataroja “said he just casually walked out of maximum security because he went out with the visitors. He found one that is of the same height as him and he copied the visitor’s stamp by using a ballpen,” Moratillo said in a radio interview yesterday.

Cataroja told police he walked all the way from the NBP reservation in Muntinlupa to Cainta, Rizal.

Moratillo said he doubts Cataroja’s story, considering the heavy security in the NBP, particularly in the maximum security compound.

“He had to go through many gates,” Moratillo said.

Cataroja was visiting his parents just before he was arrested after police received an anonymous tip, Moratillo added.

According to Lt. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento, commander of the Area Police Command-Southern Luzon, Cataroja escaped the NBP on July 7 but the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) earlier said he was missing since July 15 after he failed to attend the roll call.

Cataroja was committed to the NBP in July 2022 after he was sentenced to serve 12 years to 20 years for violating the anti-fencing law. He is on trial for car theft before the Regional Trial Court Branch 71 of Antipolo City.

Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said yesterday the Rizal police filed a complaint for evasion of service of sentence against Cataroja before the prosecutor’s office.

Cataroja was turned over to the BuCor yesterday.

Bucor forms inquiry panel

BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang Jr. said yesterday he has ordered the creation of a board of inquiry to investigate how Cataroja was able to escape.

The board will also look into the possible connivance of prison guards in Cataroja’s escape, he added.

“I don’t think he got away without the help of any guard or the duty officers there,” Catapang said in an ANC interview. “It will be a full-blown inquiry on how Cataroja got away from the prison compound.”

Catapang vowed that heads will roll once it is determined who is responsible for the escape.

To avoid a repeat of the incident, Catapang sad decongesting the NBP is key since the number of inmates is “unmanageable.”

“We are overcrowded and… undermanned,” he said, noting that the current ratio of prison guards to inmates is one guard to 25 inmates when the ideal is 1:7.

Senate focuses on security breach

Meanwhile, the Senate committee on justice and human rights will focus its inquiry on the security breach that allowed Cataroja to escape.

Sen. Francis Tolentino, who chairs the committee, said the senators will look into “how... Cataroja escaped and what was the BuCor’s negligence” during its hearing on Aug. 22.

Tolentino’s panel initiated an inquiry following reports of the discovery of a mass grave in a septic tank at the NBP maximum security compound. — Emmanuel Tupas, Cecille Suerte Felipe