TACLOBAN CITY- At least nine prisoners escaped from their cells in one of the sub-provincial jails in Leyte last Sunday night.
The prisoners, some accused of high crimes like murder and carnapping, managed to escape by overpowering the jail guard who was then conducting the routinary head count, said Jail Guard 3 Nelson Ibañez, officer-in-charge of the sub-provincial jail located in Baybay City, 107 kms from this city.
Those who escaped were identified as Cornelio Rico, Joey Del Monte, Leonil Flores, Edgar Dumangas, Romvic Bakiyo, Arturo Palmero, Patricio Austero, Albert Raga and Carlos Camogao.
The prisoners who escaped and facing murder charges were Del Monte, Dumangas, Austero and Camogao while Bakiyo and Raga were charged with carnapping. Rico was charged with illegal possession of illegal drugs while Flores and Palmero were charged with rape.
Flores is also charged for theft just like Camogao while Bakiyo is also charged with robbery.
Three of the inmates were from Baybay, namely, Dumangas, Palmero and Austero while Raga, Bakiyo and Camogao were from Ormoc City. Del Monte, alleged to be the leader of the escapees, is a resident of Lapinig town, Northern Samar, Flores is from Mahaplag town in Leyte and Rico is from Zamboanga Del Sur.
All the nine inmates remain at large as the local police with the help of the Philippine Army immediately conducted manhunt operations, Ibañez said on Tuesday.
The Leyte sub-provincial jail is located in Barangay Hipusngo, less than a kilometer away from the city proper of Baybay. The escape of the nine inmates reduced to 73 the number of prisoners at the sub-provincial jail.
Ibañez said that the jailbreak incident at the sub-provincial jail took place last Sunday at around 8:15 in the evening while a head count among prisoners were being conducted by prison guard Alexander Cinco.
And while Cinco was about to finish the headcount, one of the inmates, identified as Del Monte, grabbed him and poked a caliber .45 on him, the jail guard officer said.
It was not yet clear how Del Monte got the firearm.
The nine prisoners escaped by using the main entrance of the sub-provincial jail and carted away a shotgun service firearm of Jail Guard I Ramil Dionisio who was on duty at that time together with Jail Guard I Guillermo Flores, Jr. and Jail Guard I Rafael Doloso.
The four jail guards are now under investigation though they were not relieved from their posts, Ibañez said.
“We are asking our people in the barangays to help us in our manhunt operations by reporting to us any sightings of these prisoners in their respective areas,” Ibañez said.
According to him, pictures of some of the escapees were already distributed in Baybay and nearby areas as part of their effort. (With a report from LITO ABALA BAGUNAS)
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