Leader of Philippine kidnap gang escapes from detention cell

Asian Economic News, June 24, 2002

MANILA, June 19 Kyodo

The suspected leader of a kidnap-for-ransom gang and two other men escaped from their detention cell at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Quezon City early Wednesday morning, police said.

Incoming national police chief Hermogenes Ebdane admitted Wednesday that Faisal Marohomsar, alleged leader of the Pentagon gang, escaped along with Abdul Macaumpang and Rolando Patino.

Ebdane said the suspects managed to escape by changing the padlock of their detention cell before scaling a high wall with barbed wire.

''They did not pass through the main gate,'' Ebdane said. He added that an investigation is being conducted to determine how the prisoners escaped.

Marohomsar was arrested on Feb. 16 in Manila's Quiapo suburb along with his wife and eight others.

The Pentagon gang, whose members are mostly renegade rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's main secessionist group, kidnapped Italian priest Giuseppe Pierantoni last year. The priest was freed early this year after reportedly paying a huge ransom.