After nearly two years in hiding, Las Piñas finally arrested a fugitive who escaped from a jail in Bacoor, Cavite. The suspect, however, claimed he became a COVID-19 healer after hiding in Quezon province.
Oscar Oida reported on GMA News “24 Oras” on Monday that the suspect, Rolando Ramirez, was arrested Saturday at a house in Barangay Talon 1.
Ramirez was among 23 prisoners who fled from jail in Bacoor, July 2018.
According to Police Colonel Vicente Cabatingan, Bacoor Police chief, they received information on Ramirez’s whereabouts after his name became famous as a faith healer.
Authorities said an informant sent a photo of Ramirez to them. And even though the man was wearing a face mask in the picture, they could see his resemblance to the suspect.
Authorities then monitored his location in Las Piñas, and when they confirmed that he was the fugitive, the raid was carried out.
After fleeing the jail, Ramirez allegedly hid in Infanta, Quezon, where he learned how to become a faith healer, claiming he can cure a COVID-19 patient.
He only went to Las Piñas when someone asked for help to treat a COVID-19 positive patient.
“Yung kapatid niya po lumapit sa akin… Ginawa ko po binasbasan ko po yung pangalan niya. Kinabukasan po nung nabasbasan ko na po siya umokey na po yung pakiramdam niya. Wala na raw po siyang nararamdamang sakit,” said Ramirez.
(His sibling approached me. I blessed his name. The following day, the patient felt okay, and he does not feel pain anymore.)
So far, only one of the 23 fugitives was still at large.
Also read: Faith healer arrested for allegedly raping patients in Cavite
Neighbor of patient who died of COVID-19 also tested positive
The COVID-19 case has soared to 14 in Cagayan de Oro City after the City Health Office announced Monday that a 59-year-old woman had contracted the disease.
The woman is the neighbor of a 62-year-old female COVID-19 patient who died May 16 in Macanhan, Barangay Carmen, in Cagayan de Oro City.
The spouse and children of the deceased first tested positive for the disease.
Since the number of positive cases in the community has increased to four, it will extend the strict containment of the barangay to June 19.
Non-APOR or Authorized Persons Outside Residence are still not allowed to go out even if the region is under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
The new COVID-19 patient has been taken to the City Isolation Unit and is currently asymptomatic or with no known symptoms.