Food lures jailbirds to stay

MANILA, Philippines - Inmates in the Tacloban City Jail who tried to escape were later persuaded by policemen to stay in their detention cells that were damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda after authorities gave them food, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima said.

Purisima said the attempted jailbreak happened over the weekend but the timely deployment of policemen contained it.

“When I was there last Sunday, there was an attempted breakout from the jail beside the police station; we had to suppress them by firing our weapons,” Purisima said.

The PNP chief admitted that if the inmates escaped, they would cause more problems for the authorities.

Police officials said the inmates were reportedly abandoned by their jail guards after the typhoon devastated the city. There are more than 600 inmates in the city jail.

“When our policemen talked to them, we asked them what is their problem, they said they have no food. We were looking for the guards who were supposed to be guarding them, they were all gone,” said Purisima.

“So we told them we will provide you with food, you go back to your cells in 10 minutes. Their food was at the back of the city hall. They were given food at nagpalakpakan pa nga sila (they all clapped),” he added.

Like the residents affected by the typhoon, Purisima said the inmates were not immediately attended to by authorities due to other pressing concerns.

“And actually right now, the jail is under the control of the Regional Public Safety Battalion of the Eastern Visayas regional police. They were really neglected. These people are still human beings, we still need to take care of them also,” said Purisima.

The PNP sent hundreds of policemen to Tacloban and other parts of Leyte ravaged by the typhoon last Friday.