An inmate facing robbery with homicide charges escaped from his detention cell in the poblacion of San Remigio town, northern Cebu.
Police said Nonilon “Binong” Magallanes escaped by destroying the cell’s dilapidated ceiling.
The iron bars were bent. There was a hole in the ceiling.
Police said Magallanes must have climbed up the double deck beds in the cell to reach the ceiling.
An operation to recapture the inmate is ongoing, said police.
An investigation will be made to determine possible lapses of the police men on duty, said Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador Jr., chief of the Cebu provincial police.
Magallanes was the lone inmate in the jail. He was arrested in Nov. 30 last year yet by police in sitio Patag, barangay Argawanon based on a warrant issued by a trial court in Catargan, Masbate province.
Why was the inmate overstaying in San Remigio?
Insp. Anecito Manloloyo, chief of the San Remigio police, said they had requested the Masbate police for Magallanes’ transfer but no one from Masbate arrived to pick up the inmate.
Six police officers, including a desk officer and an on-call investigator, were on duty at the San Remigio police precinct last Monday evening.
Manloloyo said that around 8 p.m. last Monday, when team leader SPO1 Nicolas Navales inspected the detention cell , Magallanes was still inside.
During a second inspection at 11 p.m, the inmate was still there.
The policemen noticed he was missing the next day during another inspection around 8 a.m. last Tuesday.