A SHOOT-to-kill order has been issued against a Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) inmate, who escaped last Monday after attending a court hearing in Argao town, southern Cebu.
CPDRC Warden Algier Commendador said the order was issued against inmate Jojo Gañolon, whom the jail warden described as a noted criminal facing four charges in some of the southern towns of Cebu.
Gañolon was arrested last Aug. 13 during a drug buy-bust operation in Dalaguete town. He, however, was arrested only after he and his brother shot it out with policemen. His brother was killed in that encounter.
Last Monday, Gañolon escaped as he together with 20 other inmates ate lunch in a carenderia after they attended a court hearing.
Gañolon’s handcuffs were removed so that he could eat his lunch without any discomfort. But when the guards were not looking, he ran out and escaped on a waiting motorcycle outside the carenderia.
Commendador, however, said yesterday that the order would only take effect if Gañolon would resist arrest.
“Ug mosukol pusilon … Kung mo-surrender, mas maayo (If he resists, he will be shot… If he surrenders, it would be the best for him),” he said.
“Diri sa jail, dili man ka hilabtan basta mo-surrender lang ka namo (You won’t be harmed inside the jail, just surrender to us),” said Commendador, who added that Gañolon was hiding in one of the southern Cebu towns.
Meanwhile, acting Gov. Agnes Magpale said the order was appropriate since Gañolon was believed to be dangerous.
“If they think that he is really dangerous, then let it be,” she said.
This is the second time that a CPDRC inmate escaped.
Last October, Renante “Bolatik” Dela Rosa escaped the facility after jail guards noticed his absence during the 6 p.m. head count.
Two days after bolting from jail, Dela Rosa yielded to police.
Last Tuesday, the man who helped Gañolon escaped was identified.
Francisco Amacani was the one who drove the motorcycle boarded by Gañolon when he escaped on Monday.
Because of these escapes, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia disapproved the requests of the inmates to have their loved ones stay overnight for Christmas.
Acting Gov. Magpale said that not approving the request of the inmates to have their loved ones stay overnight for Christmas is just a matter of discipline.
During Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s birthday last October, the inmates requested that their loved ones be allowed to stay overnight for Christmas. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus