Inmate wore dress, scarf to escape from South Cotabato provincial jail

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines—An inmate here outsmarted his jail guards when he bolted the South Cotabato Provincial Rehabilitation and Detention Center on Wednesday, jail officials said.

Wearing a Muslim head gear and dressed in woman’s clothes, Khad Abubakar Langalen, 28, of Tacurong City, quietly mingled with visitors and successfully gained freedom at past 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The daring escape happened while the provincial detention facility was opened during visiting hours, said Juan Lanzaderas, acting provincial warden.

“One of the inmates noticed Langalen wearing a girl’s dress with his head covered with a colored scarf,” Lanzaderas said.

But the inmate-witness could not alert the jail guard about Langalen because he was summoned to prepare his documents and entertain his own visitors.

The escape was discovered after the inmates were called to assemble in the middle of the jail facility for head count.

Langalen, arrested in Polomolok, South Cotabato, for illegal drug pushing in 2012, is facing violations of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2001.

Lanzaderas said he already formed two tracking and recovery teams to locate Langalen. He also appealed to his relatives “to bring him back to jail.”

Langalen was the third inmate who bolted the South Cotabato provincial jail since October last year. SM