Senate probe brings up ‘notorious names’

NBP inmate’s escape:

MANILA, Philippines — “Notorious names” were brought up during yesterday’s Senate hearing investigating the escape of an inmate from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP)’s maximum security compound, according to Sen. Francis Tolentino.

Convict Michael Cataroja said yesterday that he broke out of prison on July 7 by hiding underneath a garbage truck.

In a press briefing yesterday at the Senate after holding the second day of the probe at the NBP compound, Tolentino said he had doubts about Cataroja’s story that he escaped by squeezing himself underneath the compartment of a garbage truck.

Tolentino said it was impossible that authorities did not notice Cataroja’s orange inmate shirt while he clung for dear life beneath the truck.

“It is also the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) standard operating procedure to [inspect with a] mirror underneath the truck,” Tolentino said.

The senator said he was able to have a private talk with Cataroja, who expressed fears for his safety since his rearrest in Angono, Rizal on Aug. 17.

“There are also names that came up, but I cannot bring them up in public yet. These are notorious personalities. It’s scary to imagine,” Tolentino said in Filipino.

During the hearing, Cataroja admitted he wanted to escape prison out of “boredom” from serving his sentence. He also admitted hearing stories about other convicts being able to leave the NBP compound.

Tolentino said he is still not discounting his suspicion that convicts are being brought out of the NBP to carry out heinous crimes.

Changing his story

Cataroja’s story is a departure from what he told Angono police, that he escaped by disguising himself as a visitor and copied a visitor’s stamp by using a ballpen.

During the hearing, Cataroja told the Senate panel that he was helping move garbage from the prison to the truck, which arrived at around 9 a.m. on July 7.

Seeing his chance as personnel were busy hauling trash and another truck obscured his position, Cataroja said he slipped under the garbage truck and clung to it until it went out of the NBP.

He then dropped himself off at the C-6 Road, where he walked until he reached Antipolo, Rizal. He said he planned his escape for a week.

Cataroja also said that even though he heard stories that some of the inmates who succeeded in escaping from the NBP had been killed, he tried to escape anyway.

The 25-year-old inmate had been detained at the NBP for less than two years following his conviction for violating the anti-fencing law.

Admitting that his escape brought shame on the part of the BuCor, Cataroja said he is asking its officials for forgiveness and thanked authorities for sparing his life.

After the hearing, Cataroja reenacted his escape by showing how he slipped under a garbage truck.

BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang Jr. said while prisoners will still be granted visitation privileges, the bureau will suspend overnight stays for conjugal and family visits.

Sen. Robinhood Padilla, a former NBP inmate, said he hoped the overnight stays would be reinstated, as these are part of the inmates’ rehabilitation.

Catapang also said the BuCor will review all of the policies in the NBP, including the collection of garbage, considering how Cataroja escaped in a dump truck. Catapang said no inmate should be allowed to help in taking out the trash and there should be prison guards monitoring the process.