3 inmates who bolted Maguindanao jail recaptured; 2 still at large

COTABATO CITY – Jail and police authorities here on Wednesday announced the recapture of three of the five inmates, who bolted the Maguindanao provincial jail on PC Hill here amid heavy downpour hours before.

Macapagal Blao, Maguindanao provincial jail warden, said the three inmates – a certain Makalay, Hakino Mento and Tampakan Antilino – who have been facing robbery and theft charges, were recaptured about two hours after they bolted Cell No. 8 along with Fahad Sangki of Ampatuan town and Faisal Macarimbang of Parang, both in Maguindanao.

Blao said the recaptured inmates were spotted by policemen manning a checkpoint in Barangay Tamontaka. The policemen got suspicious of the three men as they walked along the Esteros area around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

However, Blao said Sangki and Macarimbang remained at large close to noon Wednesday. Authorities were still pursuing them, he said.

The five inmates escaped by sawing the window grills with hacksaw and guitar strings, he said, citing investigation report.

Blao said the sound of the heavy rain shielded the prisoners from detection as they saw the grills possibly between 12 midnight to 2 a.m.

He said jail guards conducting patrol later found out that the five inmates had gone. Their three other cellmates did not join them, he added.

Blao said aside from the manhunt, they have appealed to the parents and relatives of Sangki and Macarimbang to surrender the remaining fugitives.

“The parents will play vital roles in bringing them back to jail, otherwise, they will remain wanted and could eventually find themselves in a dangerous situation,” he said. (Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao)