Police nab NBP escapee reported earlier as dead

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

THE missing inmate at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City has resurfaced with a story of his great escape fit for an action movie.

The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights chaired by Sen. Francis Tolentino will look into possible security lapses at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) that enabled prisoner Michael Cataroja to slip through the maximum security compound and was reported missing since last July 15.

Cataroja’s disappearance initially raised suspicions that he was killed and the corpse thrown into a septic tank at the NBP compound, prompting the Tolentino panel to initiate an inquiry on alleged mysterious serial killings at the penitentiary.

PREPPING UP FOR SCHOOL REOPENING.

On the last day of Brigada Eskwela, Grade 3 teachers from the Aurora Elementary school in San Andres, Manila prepare modules to be distributed to their pupils. The school will conduct regular face-toface classes from Kinder to Grade 2, while the rest are modular from Grade 3 to 6 during the opening on August 29.

Police arrested the 25-year-old Cataroja in Barangay Isidro, Angono, Rizal last Thursday.

Tolentino said they want to establish if there is any, the negligence of Bucor. Cataroja, who was serving a prison term from 12 to 20 years for violations of Presidential Decree No. 612 or the Anti-Fencing Act Law, told the police that he casually walked out of the NBP by posing—and dressing—as a visitor at the facility.

Angono police chief Maj. Lauro Leyva