Sablayan fugitive rearrested

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March 6, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities recaptured yesterday a prisoner who escaped from Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, after a resident alerted police that his motorcycle was stolen.

Police units conducted a hot pursuit and arrested Tyrone dela Cruz at a grassy area in Barangay Sta. Lucia in Sablayan in the morning.

Dela Cruz has been serving a life sentence since 2017 for kidnapping with ransom.

He escaped during a routine headcount, managing to hide in a nearby forest. His escape prompted the Bureau of Corrections to reassign four BuCor prison officers.

“Let this serve as a warning to all (prisoners): attempts to escape will not succeed. We will track you down and bring you back to justice,” said BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr.

Meanwhile, Catapang ordered a probe into allegations of preferential treatment being accorded to Chinese inmates at the mega-prison.

While Catapang dismissed the allegations as a “well-orchestrated demolition job,” he emphasized the need for transparency and accountability within the corrections system.

Some newspaper reports alleged that Sablayan has a condominium-hotel or condotel inside its sprawling property, which supposedly houses 10 Chinese drug lords, considered as high-value targets, who can drink, gamble and womanize.

But newly appointed facility chief Sr. Supt. Roger Boncales denied the claim, saying the reports may have been referring to the conjugal rooms.

Boncales said Sablayan has 34 conjugal rooms, a standard feature in correctional facilities to hosts family visits. These conjugal rooms are located at the central prison and the Pasugui section of the facility, he added.