SAN PEDRO CITY—A man, who escaped prison in Balayan town in Batangas province, was killed in a shootout with policemen on Wednesday, reports said on Thursday.
Police Capt. Jeffrey Dallo, Balayan police chief, said Salvador de Ocampo traded shots with lawmen after they found him hiding in a fishing boat off Balayan Bay.
Police were still investigating how De Ocampo got his gun, a .38 caliber pistol. According to police records, De Ocampo was arrested in October for murder.
Dallo said De Ocampo and another detainee, Roderico Legaspi, who was facing drug charges, escaped at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 31 by starting a fire inside their cell.
As the smoke cleared, police realized that the prisoners had also cracked a hole on the cell’s concrete wall through which they escaped.
Police conducted a two-day manhunt in the the coastal village of Palikpikan, where De Ocampo and Legaspi were last seen.
“We also learned that they stole a fishing boat at one point but later abandoned the vessel when it ran out of fuel,” Dallo said. Legaspi was rearrested in the vicinity hours later. —MARICAR CINCO