Hilongos jail inmate escapes

HILONGOS, LEYTE, Philippines  – A detained suspect in the brutal killing of a barangay councilman and his two minor sons, has escaped on June 2 by breaking the steel bar of the cell door of the town police’s detention cell.

Romualdo Merino, who has standing charges for murder, was the lone detainee at the time of his escape. He forcibly bent with his hands the steel bar where the padlock was attached from the inside.

With few police officers in the precinct, the others being deployed to several barangays celebrating fiesta, Merino succeeded in letting loose the defective lock and ran towards the back portion of the station under cover of the dawn darkness.

Chief Insp. Virgilio Plaza, OIC-chief of the Hilongos Police Station, told The FREEMAN that a manhunt operation is now underway to recapture the escapee. “Our force is constantly on the move to bring back Merino,” he said, adding that the policemen on duty at the time of the jailbreak have already submitted their explanation of the incident.

Mayor Jose Emery Roble, during the flag raising ceremony this week, announced his offer for a bounty to anyone who can provide information that may lead to the arrest of Merino, who he deemed as a very dangerous man. The mayor did not specify yet the amount of the reward.

Merino and three others have been accused for allegedly ambushing councilman Vicente Lor and his two sons, aged 4 and 6, while riding on a motorcycle on the way to the river to take a dip one early morning last month.

Using an improvised shotgun, they shot the three in the head, scattering the brains all over the road. The councilman and one of his sons died on the spot, while the other son survived a few hours in the hospital and was able to identify the assailants. The suspects and the victims lived in the same barangay. (FREEMAN)