Hungry inmates bolt Leyte jail

MANILA, Philippines - At least 182 inmates reportedly suffering from hunger escaped from the damaged Leyte provincial jail at around 4 a.m. yesterday.

Warden Merle Bertulfo Bertulfo said the inmates ignored warning shots and practically “walked out” of jail as they were about to be served coffee.

Chief Superintendent Henry Lonzanes, Eastern Visayas regional police director, said the jail, which had been damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda, only had a tarpaulin roof.

“The duty guard left his post to get a supply of coffee from the office inside the facility, which was taken advantage of by the inmates. They did not have to break the jail, it has been broken since Yolanda,” said Lonzanes.

At least 150 of the inmates have been accounted for after several hours.

“The jail guards became too trusting since the inmates were considered good prisoners… they were the prisoners who got flooded in the provincial jail during Yolanda and who eventually returned,” Lonzanes said.

 Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, spokesman for the Philippine National Police, said the inmates had complained of “lack of food and poor living condition” in the damaged jail.

Bertulfo told The Freeman the inmates also complained of the delay in the resolution of their cases, documents of which were lost during the onslaught of Yolanda.

A source from the jail said the inmates did not intend to escape but only want to get the attention of authorities about their plight.

Some inmates, who were accused of petty crimes, have been detained for over three years, the source added.

Senior Superintendent Jose Macanas, director of Ormoc City police, said he alerted his men to set up checkpoints to recapture the other detainees.

A task force was also created to locate the fugitives. Edgar Allan Vilbar, Marlon Tano, Cecille Suerte Felipe