COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Jail guards killed an inmate who, along with six others, bolted from their cells at the Maguindanao provincial jail here before dawn Thursday.
Superintendent Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesman of the Police Regional Office-12, identified the fatality as Mike Tungkayo Balitoc, who was being prosecuted for a murder case.
Six others — Dante Sandigan Kadatuan, Guli Utba Mangandong, Sindatuk Ampatua Saddam Lucan Montani, Aminodin Maliga, and Turagsak Sabal — ran and scaled a wall of the jail compound as guards fired at Balitoc.
All six escapees were at the Maguindanao provincial jail at Pedro Colina Hill in Cotabato City for heinous offenses, including drug trafficking and armed robbery.
Gonzalez said personnel of the Cotabato City police are now trying to locate them with the help of barangay officials and intelligence agents of units under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
The Maguindanao provincial government is building a new detention center in Buluan town. The new facility, which is expected to replace the 70-year-old jail in Cotabato City once completed this year, will also provide rehabilitation services for detained drug dependents.