Jail Supt. Frizel Arevalo, warden of the Negros Occidental District Jail in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City, was replaced by Jail Chief Inspector Abner Zamora, following the escape of five high-profile inmates from the facility on June 29.
BJMP Regional Office spokesperson, Jail Chief Inspector Jairus Anthony Dojillo, said five NODJ personnel on duty during the incident are now being investigated and will be relieved from their posts.
The BJMP Regional Office has ordered an intensive manhunt operation and dispatched personnel to different areas, particularly to the homes of the escapees.
One of the escapees is the notorious leader of the Epogon robbery group, identified as Francisco Epogon, 30, of Barangay Mina, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental. He is facing multiple cases for robbery and was arrested March last year through a warrant of arrest for his involvement in several robbery cases in southern Negros.
The Epogon robbery group is known to be notorious and its members were the suspects in the killing of a Belgian national, who fought against them, at Villa Angela Subdivision in Bacolod City in 2019.
The others are Alejando Montoya of Victorias City, who is facing cases for carnapping and acts of lasciviousness; Marvin Celeste of Barangya Gawahon, Victorias City, charged for illegal possession of firearms; Daniel Tamon of Barangay Kumaliskis, Don Salvador Benedicto, facing a murder case; and Danilo Celeste of Barangay Timawa, Victorias City, who is charged for carnapping, robbery, and attempted homicide.
Members of the NODJ were deployed to different areas for the recapture of the escapees, while the incident is now being investigated on the alleged security laxity in the district jail.
Dojillo said the escapees were able to cut the 20mm steel bars of the jail dormitory between midnight and 2 oโclock in the morning. They made an improvised rope by using clothes and blankets to scale the high fence of the jail compound. They passed through a barbwire situated far from a closed-circuit television camera, and the incident was only discovered by roving jail personnel early morning of June 29.
Members of the Philippine National Police were asked to augment the BJMP personnel in the ongoing manhunt operations.
The NODJ was constructed by the provincial government of Negros Occidental and formally donated last year to the BJMP. — MML
