16 inmates bolt Cotabato City jail using blankets

(Updated 4 p.m.) A mayor said Thursday that 16 inmates have broken free from a jail in the southern Philippines by cutting the iron bars of their cell and using blankets to lower themselves into a nearby river. Cotabato Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. said one inmate was recaptured following the midnight escape from the overcrowded jail in the city center. Interviewed by a local radio station, Darwin Herbias, who was recaptured, said most of the escapees were occupants of cell number 3 who were prevented from praying inside. Herbias, who was arrested by tanods (village watchmen) of Poblacion 7, said they destroyed the iron grill by sawing it, used blankets as rope, and fled quietly by swimming through the Rio Grande de Mindanao. The jail is situated near a river. Herbias, facing robbery charges, is presently detained at the Cotabato City police precinct number 1. The Cotabato City jail holds about 300 inmates facing charges of murder, drug trafficking and weapons possession. Dozens of jailbreaks blamed on lax security and poor prison conditions take place every year, many including terrorist suspects and communist and Moro rebels. — AP with Malu Cadelina Manar/RSJ, GMANews.TV