ZAMBOANGA CITY (PNA) – Three of the four persons deprived of liberty (PDL), who escaped from jail, are now back in the custody of the police in the province of Zamboanga del Norte, a top official announced Friday.
Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay Jr., Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, said this came after two of the four surrendered one after the other, while the othe was captured in a manhunt operation.
Cambay said that Wilfredo Antiquina Espelita, 19 and Roger Barillo Feras, surrendered to the police around 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively, on Thursday.
Cambay said Espelita, who is facing illegal drug charges, was taken by his family to the police station in Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte, while Feras, charged with attempted homicide, gave himself up in response to the call of the police for the jail breakers to surrender.
Cambay said that Welly Celino Catoy, 23, was recaptured by policemen of Roxas town and the First Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Mobile Force Company around 7:20 p.m. Thursday in Barangay Lipakan, Roxas.
Catoy is charged for violation of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
Meanwhile, policemen under the Zamboanga del Norte Police Provincial Office are continuously tracking down the whereabouts of Robert Quinicar Quinto, 46, who remains at large.
Quinto is charged for violation of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
The four managed to escape unnoticed from the detention cell of the Roxas Municipal Police Station around 1:30 a.m., Thursday, by cutting the iron bars with a guitar string amid a heavy downpour.
“Again, we urge the immediate family and relatives of Quinto to surrender him to the nearest police station so as not to aggravate the situation for, after all, he is still considered innocent unless proven guilty by a competent court,” Cambay said.