SEN. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday said that “heads must roll” in the Bureau of Corrections for the “unacceptable” escape of a person deprived of liberty (PDL) at the New Bilibid Prison.
In an interview, Dela Rosa said the Board of Inquiry (BOI) created by the BuCor should determine the extent of liability among BuCor officials over an inmate’s escape from the NBP’s maximum security compound.
“There are too many lapses. That’s unacceptable. A PDL able to escape the maximum-security compound is a mortal sin. Heads must roll so that similar incidents will not happen again. This is a shame,” Dela Rosa said.
The BOI was created after Michael Cataroja, who was committed to the NBP on July 26, 2022 for violation of the Anti-Fencing Law, was captured by the police in Angono last week after he was reported missing last July.
Cataroja initially claimed he was able to escape by posing as one of the visitors to the NBP but later confessed that he clung to the bottom of a garbage truck making its way out of the penitentiary.
Two weeks ago, the Committee on Justice and Human Rights held a hearing on the supposed mass grave discovered at the NBP after alleged human remains were found in the septic tank in one of the buildings housing inmates.
Authorities aired suspicion the alleged human remains could be that of Cataroja but there were later found to be chicken bones.
The same Senate committee will hold another hearing today in connection with Cataroja’s escape.
Dela Rosa said the BOI should make an in-depth investigation into how Cataroja managed to escape and negligent BuCor officials made to account.
Dela Rosa said BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang is not off the hook even if he is not directly involved in managing the NBP.
A former PNP and BuCor chief, Dela Rosa said the chain of command in the NBP begins from the officer-in-charge of the security, then goes to the superintendent, and then to the BuCor chief.
“So, let’s find out up to where the command responsibility falls,” Dela Rosa said. “Let’s see if the negligence of duty will reach him (Catapang). Command responsibility should be applied.”
