Inmates raise sum for escapee’s arrest

CEBU, Philippines - The inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) have raised P30,000 as reward money for the arrest of their fellow prisoner who escaped last Monday. 

Lito Granada, the inmates’ commander, said P30,000 of their cooperative’s funds has been set aside as reward for those who can bring back Arnel Mait who escaped from CPDRC after pretending to be a jail visitor and joined the crowd of guests going out of the facility.  Mait, who is facing drug charges, had his own stamp on his arm and a visitor’s ID with him when he slipped past the jail guards. 

The inmates came up with the reward after the CPDRC officials temporarily suspended visits to the facility, said Marco Toral, Capitol consultant on jail matters. Visits used to be scheduled every Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

“Nagtampo-tampo ang mga priso human nato giputol ang dalaw,” he said. 

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, Toral said they have not yet found Mait but they have received reports of his whereabouts, which were not divulged yet so as not to disrupt their operations. 

Mait is from Argao town in southern Cebu. Toral said though that the suspect was not there and his family didn’t know his whereabouts.

Officials from the CPDRC already gave a picture of Mait and their contact number to Coast Guard personnel at Tangil port in Dumanjug in case the escapee will cross to the nearby Negros Island. 

Granada said if Mait decides to  surrender, they will give portion of the reward to his family as assistance.

 He also assured Mait that he will not be punished. It has been a “correctional” practice at CPDRC to beat up and place prisoners inside what is commonly called a “bartolina,” a narrow, dark cell intended for solitary confinement. 

“Dili siya namo hilabtan,” he said. 

He said this would serve as an example to other inmates who might escape in the future that they won’t be punished once they return. (FREEMAN)