16 inmates bolt Cotabato City jail

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Sixteen inmates here escaped from jail yesterday morning by sawing off the steel bars of their cell and using blankets to lower themselves into a river, authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane, city police chief, said the jailbreak was discovered at around 6 a.m. yesterday, about five hours after the inmates sneaked out of the jail premises.

After lowering themselves into the river, the escapees hid in shanties at the back of the jail, he said.

Dangane said authorities only learned about the jailbreak when patrolling policemen accosted Darwin Hervias, one of the escapees, as his clothes were all wet.

Hervias gave a different name but could not explain why he had wet clothes, prompting the lawmen to bring him to the police station, he said.

“When we checked the police gallery, we saw his pictures and learned that he was an inmate of the Cotabato City jail. So we checked with the jail authorities, it was only then that they discovered the jailbreak,” he added.

Police and jail authorities are now hunting down the 15 other escapees, who include Mandi Kasubidan and Malik Ariman, who were charged with murder for the killing of a teacher who served as an election inspector during the recent polls.

The other escapees (and the charges they face) were identified as Nondo Mokamad (murder), Joko Usop (frustrated murder), Mamalo Budsal (robbery), Allan Talisaysay and Akmad Tahir (illegal drugs), Ranier Kamarudin (cattle rustling), Akmad Makmod, Jabide Mampin, Benedict de los Reyes, Fermin Sabordo, Ibrahim Adam and Suharto Abdulah (theft), and Badrudin Kamensa (estafa).

Dangane said policemen and elements of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 have sealed off the city’s major entry and exit points to prevent the escapees from going to nearby towns in Maguin­danao. – With Rose Tamayo