Forty-six prisoners of the Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan, who were earlier freed but surrendered in September this year due to the controversy over the Good Conduct Time Allowance, escaped from their holding area Friday night.
But Major Albert Tapiru, spokesman of the Bureau of Corrections, said six of the escapees decided to return while two more were convinced to return to the Iwahig Penal Colony.
“There are still 38 who are yet to be accounted. We are already coordinating with the local police to either convince them to surrender through their relatives or to recapture them,” Tapiru said.
Tapiru said that after President Duterte ordered the surrender of all those freed under the GCTA, a lot of inmates from the Iwahig Penal Colony complied and turn themselves in.
All of them were placed inside the recreation area of the Iwahig Penal Colony which was turned into their temporary holding area.
“They are temporarily being held there while the verification of the Department of Justice is going on. They were not placed inside the regular detention facility because it is yet to be determined by the DoJ if they deserve to be returned to prison,” said Tapiru.
The inmates who escaped appeared to have become impatient over the long time it takes for the verification process.
The verification process is aimed at reviewing if the inmates who surrendered were covered by the GCTA or if they are indeed qualified to avail of the GCTA.
A little over 1,900 inmates were asked to surrender but more than 2,000 showed up to various penal colonies and police stations across the country.
Tapiru said some of those who escaped destroyed the lock of the recreation area and fled.
“They took advantage of the heavy rains last night (Friday). But not all of those inside the recreation area escaped, there are others who chose to stay,” said Tapiru.
Tapiru said that while they understand the impatience of those who surrendered, he appealed to them to respect the process of the verification.
“The verification is a continuous process. There are a lot of inmates who surrendered so it is taking time. We hope that they would understand it,” said Tapiru.
In fact, he said some of those who surrendered at the Iwahig were already freed after they passed the DoJ’s verification process. (Aaron Recuenco)
