Fellow CPDRC jail guard pays his respects to slain friend, Bayutas
They were just in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
This was how a fellow jail guard described the death of jail guards Bernie Bayutas and Joel Tevez during an ambush in Barangay Kalunasan on Sept. 13 where high- profile drug inmate Jerryfer Perigrino was also killed.
“Na-angin ra g’yud to sila. Kana si Bernie buotan kay na wala nay kontra (They met their demise because they were escorting the target of the attack.
Bernie was a good man and, as far as I know, he had no enemies),” said Lando, a fellow Cebu Provincial Detention Rehabilitation Center (CPRDC) jail guard, who asked not to be named during an interview on Saturday with Cebu Daily News.
Lando, who visited Bayutas’ wake to pay his respects to his friend, said that he was sure of Bayutas character, since he had known him for nearly 25 years.
“Dungan-dungan mi sulod ana sa CPDRC. Di ko katoo nga nitaliwan na siya (We entered CPDRC as jail guards at about the same time. I can’t believe that he is already gone),” said Lando about Bayutas’ passing.
He said since he knew him all those years, he found it hard to believe allegations and insinuations of Bayutas alleged drug links.
CDN also tried to interview the wife and immediate family of Bayutas, but they begged off as they were still grieving the loss of their loved one.
However, in an earlier interview, CPDRC Jail Warden Reynaldo Valmoria clarified that it was only the late Tevez, who had pending cases before the Committee on Discipline and Investigation (CODI).
Valmoria also said that all CPDRC jail guards were being investigated to find out if anyone had any links to drugs since illegal drugs were found in a recent greyhound operation at the jail.
On Thursday’s ambush, Lando said that Perigrino, whom the CPDRC management considered as a high profile inmate, was really the target of the ambush since the inmate had been known inside and outside the jail facility to be into the illegal drug trade.
At past 9 a.m. on Thursday, four unidentified assailants peppered with bullets the jail vehicle carrying Perigrino, and his jail guard escorts, Bayutas and Teves, killing the three men.
Person of interest, possible witness
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) failed to take into custody a person of interest in the deadly Kalunasan ambush.
Senior Supt. Royina Garma, CCPO director, said in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News, that last Friday they had already identified a person of interest in the ambush.
Garma said that they also visited the area known to be frequented by the person of interest but the person was not there.
She refused to provide more details on this development, but she shared that they also had a possible witness to the killing.
She, however, said that they were still validating if the person indeed saw the ambush.