FOUR of the five escapees from the Compostela police detention cell were arrested by the joint manhunt operation team of Compostela and Liloan Police Stations.
Escapee Joel Cuyos, 33, of Barangay Yati, Liloan town, surrendered to Liloan Municipal Councilors Fredo Calo and Jury Quiño, who accompanied him to the police station, said SPO2 Jaime Maroliña of the Compostela police.
He surrendered on the same day he escaped from the Compostela holding cell.
Ruben Catipay, 19, was arrested in Barangay Cambayog, Compostela, after a brief chase as he boarded a motorcycle, trying to evade the police.
Catipay was earlier charged with carnapping a motorcycle, but the charge was downgraded to illegal trespass to dwelling. Now, however, he faces carnapping charges after he took another motorcycle, owned by Armando Fotribeda of Barangay Poblacion, Compostela, which he used as a getaway vehicle during the escape.
Around 9 a.m. yesterday, the police arrested Jovannie Tapayan, 39, in Sitio Liputan, Barangay Cabasiangan, a mountain barangay in Balamban town where he was hiding with relatives.
An hour later, police arrested Joseph Mahinay, 33, in Sitio Tabo, Barangay Jubay, Liloan where he hid in the house of his girlfriend.
Maroliña said Mahinay was arrested inside an internet café while chatting his mother who is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
Cuyos, Mahinay and Tapayan are all facing the case of violation of RA 9165 for illegal drug trade.
Only Nelson Agbay of Barangay Poblacion, Compostela, remains at large. He led the jailbreak.
Police said Agbay was charged with illegal gambling after being caught issuing fake Swertres numbers tickets.
Maroliña said he was on duty at that time of the jailbreak and discovered the escape when he conducted a head count of the inmates before going off duty.
The escapees cut two iron bars from the window located at the back of the cell, big enough for them to slip out.
Police said the escapees used a steel saw believed to have been brought in by one of their visitors.
Compostela Police Station chief Senior Insp. Romeo Caacoy Jr. said they already fixed the grills and prohibited the prisoners from putting up a hammock.
He said the grills that were cut by the prisoners were hidden behind the hammock, the reason why it was not immediately discovered.
“Ang kadtong puthaw nga ilahang gihigtan, gigabas na diay sa ilawom, ug tanawon nimo’s gawas bisag nag-inspeksyon ka, dili nimo malantaw nga naay agi’s ginabsan,” said Caacoy.
(The bars where they tied their hammock had already been sawn at the bottom and was not noticeable from outside.)
The police admitted that they were having a difficult time because of a lack of manpower, considering that half of his men were assigned as security detail during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit meetings.
But Police Regional Director, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño shot down Caacoy’s reasons for the escape.
“Hindi naman natin i-pu-pull-out kung hindi pwede…we will investigate on that kung bakit nakatakas,” Taliño said.
He said there was a thorough evaluation of the station’s operational capability before they pulled out personnel. /With a report from Nestle Semilla
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