CAGAYAN DE ORO -- Four inmates detained at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail are the subjects of manhunt after escaping from their cell Tuesday dawn.
Two of the six escapees, Reneboy Samoranos and Lorito Montirola, were recaptured in two areas in the city earlier Tuesday, said Jail Warden Dominador Tagarda Jr.
Tagarda said the inmates have escaped by boring a hole through the cell's ceiling and cutting the galvanized iron roof.
Samoranos and Montirola are facing qualified theft and frustrated homicide charges, respectively, Tagarda said. Samoranos, 26, is a native of Iligan City while Montirola, 26, is from Jasaan, Misamis Oriental.
The four others who remain at large were Richard Tabora, 26, who is charged with carnapping; Emmanuel Saguinlao, 24, a political detainee charge with illegal possession of firearms and murder; Jeffrey Jandaya, 29, charged with robbery and rape; and, Junie Batalona, 27, a murder convict.
Prior to his escape, jail officials heard Saguinlao that he misses his family, Tagarda said. "The reason why they escaped is not because of the jail's management but because they miss their families."
Misamis Oriental Vice Governor Norris Babiera on Tuesday ordered for the recapture of the four escapees and an investigation on the jailbreak.
The vice governor also alerted the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office since the escapees might still be in the city hiding with their relatives.
Meanwhile, Babiera admitted that the jail building is no longer fit to hold prisoners. The Provincial Government already plans to relocate the provincial jail outside the city next year, he said.
"Having the provincial jail within this city would be risky for the constituents of Cagayan de Oro that is why the jail must be relocated," he said. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
