FOUR, not three, inmates escaped from the maximum-security compound of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City last Monday, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
In a Viber message, Bureau of Corrections spokesman Gabriel Chaclag identified the fourth escapee as Chris Candas Ablas, who is serving life for robbery with homicide.
Two of the escapees — Pacifico Villaruz, 49, who is serving time for frustrated homicide and illegal drugs; and Arwin Villeza Bio, 35, who has been convicted of murder — were shot to death by authorities in manhunt operations last Monday.
The third escapee, Drakilou Yosores Falcon, 34, who is serving time for robbery with homicide, is considered “armed and dangerous.”
Chaclag said the BuCor is offering a P100,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that will lead to the arrest of Falcon and Ablas, who was discovered missing when prison officials conducted a headcount.
Authorities have placed the entire maximum-security compound of the NBP under lockdown, while “recovery efforts” for the two remaining escapees are ongoing.
“BuCor authorities will not stop until the last escapee is accounted for in order to ensure that the escapee will not be able to inflict harm again. Any information can be relayed to our hotline at 09186001081 and 09178046392,” Chaclag said.
Metro Manila Police chief Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. has ordered a region-wide intensive manhunt operation for Falcon and Ablas.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Department of Justice need not have full administrative and supervisory control over the Bureau of Corrections to file charges against jail guards following the escape of four prisoners at the New Bilibid Prisons.
Sotto made the remark after earlier reports said the DOJ has apparently lost its “strong” control over the BuCor after RA 10575 or the Bureau of Corrections Act was signed into law in 2013.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said that since RA 10575 was passed into a law, the DOJ can only exercise administrative supervision over the BuCor, instead of control.
Guevarra said he is “beginning to think that the law itself that supposedly strengthened the BuCor may have to be reviewed.”
DOJ Usec. Mark Perete said that BuCor became a line agency of the DOJ when RA 10575 was signed into law in 2013. He said the BuCor was formerly a constituent bureau of the DOJ. — With Noel Talacay and Raymond Africa
