Desquitado orders manhunt vs eight escapees; Dimaporo offers rewards

By NITZ ARANCON
and BONITA ERMAC
Correspondents

CAMP Alagar yesterday ordered a police manhunt against eight “high-profile” inmates who bolted from the Lanao del Norte provincial jail on Thursday morning even as the province’s governor offered as much as P1 million for their recapture.

Police regional director Chief Supt. Lyndel Desquitado directed the Lanao del Norte Provincial Police Office to lead the hunt for the escapees identified as Amoran Dasimbor, Samsodin Mamao, Musakira Tomanto, Alisaman Santos, Walid Mandagla, Anowar Angni, Caris Lando, and Bawi Mapandi.

The escapees have cases ranging from cattle rustling, illegal detention, robbery with intimidation against person, drug possession, attempted parricide, kidnapping and homicide, illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives, direct assault with frustrated murder, kidnapping, to murder.

A furious Lanao del Norte Gov. Khalid Dimaporo said the capitol would reward anyone who could provide information that would result in the recapture of the inmates. The rewards vary from P200 thousand, P500 thousand to P1 million.

Dimaporo said the jailers would also be investigated, and anyone found to be liable would be punished. Perlito Gementeza, provincial jail warden, said the inmates escaped by sawing the window grills at the back of the prison facility in Tubod town. How this was possible without jail guards hearing or detecting it remains unclear. Jail guards Roderick Banasco, Oscar Molijon, and Ernesto Caro reportedly responded after one of the inmates alrted them about the prisonbreak. But by the time they responded, the eight inmates were already gone.

Authorities said the escapees used a Lenox hacksaw blade that was turned over by inmate David Gerolaga after the jail bolt.