2 prisoners who escaped from Tacloban City jail arrested

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Two prisoners from the Tacloban City Jail who escaped at the height of supertyphoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ have been rearrested, police said Friday.

One of the escapes, identified as Patrocinio Fajardo Raya, was nabbed by members of the Mandaue police in Cebu on Thursday.

In a report to the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Cebu City Regional Police director Chief Superintendent Danilo Constantino said Raya escaped from the jail after it was destroyed by the storm surge and fled to Cebu by hitching a ride on a C-130 plane.

Raya, who was convicted for illegal drugs in 2002, was rearrested in Sitio Maharlika, Tipolo, Mandaue.
Constantino said Raya is currently under the custody of the Mandaue Municipal Police Station for proper disposition.

The other convict, Joe Ben Lacaba Ollen, was rearrested on Monday by Tacloban Special Task Group personnel at a pawnshop carrying two electric fans and a 6.5-inch knife.

Ollen, who was convicted for theft, was turned over to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Reports said hundreds of detainees at the Tacloban City Jail escaped when the prison gate was destroyed by rampaging waters unleashed by storm surge as Yolanda pummeled Tacloban City and other Central Visayas provinces on Nov. 8.

Police said 103 inmates were still missing as of Friday.