Jalosjos may get 6 more years for 'escape' - DOJ

Former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos, convicted for raping an 11-year-old child in 1996, may get an additional six years after he walked out from the New Bilibid Prisons without authority, a GMA news report said Tuesday. "If we charge him with evasion of service of sentence, then that is a different story. If we will be tried and convicted, then that is a six-year term," Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who described the 'escape' as "unauthorized," said. Jalosjos walked out of the NBP last Saturday and flew to his hometown in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte that afternoon, insisting he is legally “a free man." Jalosjos had maintained that his certificate of discharge has not been revoked and that there was no need to ask permission from prison authorities. He was referring to the certificate of discharge issued December 16 by Penal Supt. lV Juanito L. Leopando. The former congressman yielded to police Sunday and was detained at the Zamboanga Penal colony. The DOJ chief said that walking out of the NBP was "unauthorized" and that Jalosjos should have just stayed inside prison. "Except for the fact that he is not free, (he could have made the) most out of his condition as a minimum security prisoner (with) living-out privileges. He cannot wish for more,"Gonzalez added. Jalosjos would have been able to walk out of jail in 2010 after being given a commutation of sentence by President Arroyo, the GMA news report said. For his part, Jalosjos lawyer Alfredo Jimenez said that they are preparing charges of illegal arrest and arbitrary detention against the policemen who arrested Jalosjos. - GMANews.TV