Pampanga jail visits cancelled for 3 days following inmates’ escape

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—-Visits are canceled at the Pampanga provincial jail from Nov. 1-3 following the escape of two inmates last Saturday, Oct. 26, jail officials said on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

The move, according to jail warden Edwin Mangaliman, would give jail authorities time to tighten security measures following the escape.

Notices posted at the jail gate about the cancellation of visits prompted angry reactions from inmates’ relatives waiting at the gate.

Some expressed anxiety over having to go through stricter inspection or failing to see their jailed loved ones during All Saints and All Souls Day.

Charlie Chua, provincial administrator, had ordered Mangaliman in an Oct. 28 memorandum to put in place tighter security to prevent any further breach.

Inmates Jayson Jacinto and Ryan Lastrella, who are detained on drug charges, were found missing in their cell during a late evening head count.

In a report on the jailbreak, Mangaliman said the two climbed the roof top of the male detention dormitory from the kitchen at the back of the jail to reach the front building from where they started to flee.

Vice Gov. Lilia Pineda offered a reward of P200,000 each for the capture of the two escapees.

She met with Executive Judge Mary Ann Padron-Rivera to discuss measures to fast-track hearings and trials of criminal cases, especially drug offenses, to declog the provincial jail./TSB