Dionesia Lumantao finds herself behind bars again after escaping from the Consolacion Police Station more than a week ago. (CDN PHOTO/FE MARIE D. DUMABOC)
A female inmate who sneaked out of jail after duping a policeman in Consolacion town, northern Cebu that she will just breastfeed her baby was recaptured in Bogo City Tuesday night.
Dionesia Lumantao, 40, who is facing drug charges, was arrested while she was about to board a passenger bus at the terminal of Bogo past 7 p.m. Tuesday, said Senior Insp. Franco Oriol, chief of the Consolacion Police Station.
Lumantao, a resident of barangay Pulpogan, Consolacion, escaped from the police station last March 3 after she was allowed to breast-feed her four-month-old baby outside her cell.
Although Lumantao is now back in jail, the investigation against PO1 Julius Patac, PO2 Glenn Rosal and PO1 Socrates Borinaga, the on-duty policemen during the escape, will proceed.
The three policemen will be facing administrative investigation for grave misconduct. A separate criminal charge could be filed against them for infidelity of prisoner, said Supt. Renato Malazarte, deputy chief of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).
Oriol said they were able to trace Lumantao with the help of one of her children. Police said Patac happened to be in the house of the Lumantaos to follow up the case when the inmate made a phone call to one of her daughters. Patac was able to convince the daughter to bring him to the location of her mother.
According to Lumantao, she decided to escape because she was worried about her four-month-old baby daughter who has a heart condition. The baby was brought to her mother the day before she escaped so she could breastfeed her.
Lumantao said while she was breastfeeding her daughter, she noticed that no policeman was keeping an eye on her. Lumantao said she slowly walked out of the police station with her baby and hid in a busy area until it was dark.
While on the run, Lumantao revealed that she hid in an abandoned house in barangay Catarman, Liloan town.
Oriol said they are now assessing what charge to be filed against Lumantao for escaping from police custody. Lumantao’s husband is detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and
Rehabilitation Center for illegal drug charges./With reports from Correspondent Chito Aragon