GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/14 October) — The provincial government of Sarangani has relieved several personnel of the provincial jail in Alabel town after it recorded over the weekend its second jailbreak in just a month.
Sarangani Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon said Tuesday they have placed three provincial jail guards under investigation following the mysterious escape last Saturday of a murder suspect from the facility.
Inmate Emil Tagusi, who is facing murder charges in Malapatan town, reportedly bolted the provincial jail at around 12:30 p.m. last Saturday.
The jail management has not released the exact details of Tagusi’s escape pending an ongoing investigation.
But it identified the personnel who were on duty during the incident as prison guards June Diagan, Juinor Maude and Jomarie Anog.
The governor said they created a special committee that will lead the investigation into the Saturday jailbreak and that of September 12 that involved two inmates identified as Alejar Tambasa and Amel Pundoy.
He said they initially sent a memorandum to the involved personnel to shed light on the two incidents.
“They were ordered to answer in writing within five days to let us know why they should not be sanctioned or filed charges against,” he said in an interview over TV Patrol Socsksargen.
Solon expressed disappointment over the two jailbreaks, which he attributed to possible negligence by their personnel.
He admitted that he is personally puzzled as to how the inmates could escape from the supposedly fortified and tightly-guarded facility.
“The jail is enclosed by four high walls with barbed wires and it has guards with issued firearms.
With that alone, I think there’s no way for the inmates to escape from it,” he lamented.
Solon said the local government is currently drawing some measures to effectively secure the provincial jail, which recorded daring escapes in the past involving high-profile inmates.
He said they are looking at the creation of a technical working group involving the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to address the jail’s security problems.
In 2001, Norberto Manero Jr., alias Kumander Bucay, escaped from the facility without being noticed by the jail guards.
A high-risk detainee, Mohamad Jaafar Maguid alias Tokboy, also bolted from the provincial jail on March 2010.
Maguid was blamed for the August 2008 raid of Maasim town where two civilians were killed. (MindaNews)
