2 of 3 escapees killed in shootout w/ cops

UBAY, BOHOL, Philippines – Less than a week since the jailbreak, two of the three escapees from the Bohol District Jail in Tagbilaran City were shot dead by pursuing policemen Tuesday night in Barangay Bood of this town, near a hospital.

The fatalities were Mario Llaya, 23, a resident of Carmen town and Bryan Ceniza, 23, of Inabanga town. Both had fatal wounds in their chests. Only Exequiel Aniscal, 50, of Maribojoc town remained at large.

Llaya was facing robbery charges, Ceniza was charged with illegal possession of firearms, murder, carnapping and highway robbery, while Aniscal has been facing charges of robbery with homicide.

A composite team of the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the BPPO and the Criminal Investigation Detection Group cornered Ceniza and Llaya a few minutes past 7 p.m. Tuesday near the wharf in Brgy. Bood, where trips are available for Leyte that the suspects were apparently trying to catch up.

Bohol Police Provincial Office director Constantino Barot said Llaya and Ceniza resisted arrest and fired at the pursuing policemen who were forced to return fire, resulting in the death of the two suspects.

Barot, while thanking the people who helped the police locate the escapees, said the two fatalities were rushed by the police to the hospital but it was too late.

The police teams recovered from the scene the .45-caliber service firearm of BDJ warden Jose Jomar Torreon that the inmates seized from him during the jailbreak, and a .38-caliber pistol in possession of the slain escapees after the shootout.

The other service firearm, a 9mm pistol, which the inmates also took from the other jail officers at Gate 6 of the BDJ on their way out of the jail, was not recovered yet.

At the funeral parlor in Tagbilaran City, not one relative of the killed jailbreakers have claimed yet their remains, except the alleged girlfriend of Ceniza.

The police said the unidentified informer who texted to the police the exact location of the escapees before the shootout will certainly receive the bounty earlier offered for their capture.

Provincial administrator Alfonso Damalerio II announced earlier that the provincial government offered a total of P150,000 reward, or P50,000 for each of the escapee, to those who could provide information on the latter’s whereabouts.

PIB chief Jovito Atanacio and CIDG chief Rene Kyamko received a tip that Ceniza and Llaya were spotted heading to Ubay town. This info was quickly relayed to provincial authorities, and a team was immediately formed in coordination with the Ubay Police Station to arrest the escapees.

The informants further told the police that Ceniza and Llaya had been hopping from one town to another. After the jailbreak, Ceniza and Llaya got separated from Aniscal in Maribojoc and they went to Antequera town where they reportedly snatched a motorcycle. It was believed that the escapees took the Sagbayan route to a short cut to Ubay through Pilar town.

Meanwhile, an investigation was still going on to determine how a hand gun found its way to the hands of Aniscal who used it against one of the jail guards during the escape.

Jail warden Reynan Torreon and the jail guards of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, detailed during the jailbreak, have reportedly volunteered to be relieved while the probe is still in progress.