Friday, February 09, 2007
Get 49 jail escapees dead or alive: governor
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol wants all 49 escapees from the provincial jail accounted for dead or alive, but prefers them dead than alive.
Authorities have intensified the manhunt operation for the escapees with the deployment of more troops in Central Mindanao.
Piñol met with crisis manager and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, along with Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lieutenant General Rodolfo Obaniana, at the provincial Capitol Thursday to map out strategies for the immediate capture of the escapees.
Piñol is offering a reward of P20,000 for each of the 49 escapees.
He said the Provincial Government will be providing special militiamen to augment the two battalions coming from the Army's 602nd Brigade that would form the newly created Task Force North Cotabato.
Obaniana announced the appointment of Colonel Fidel Pumihic as chief of the task force.
National Police Chief Oscar Calderon has ordered all photos of the escapees posted in all the public places in Southern and Southwestern Mindanao.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will get updates on the manhunt and other steps taken to address the problem from Duterte.
Duterte said they will support whatever actions Piñol and the military and police would undertake to recover the escapees, especially the three bombing suspects.
He said the crisis management team will exhaust efforts to recapture escapees, including asking the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for help.
Despite this, Piñol is still determined to file his complaint against the MILF for the jailbreak even if the military already announced that the group had nothing to do with it. The military is blaming the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group for the attack on the jail in Kidapawan City last week.
Short of saying he does not concur with the military's statement, Piñol said, "the AFP tows the official line that aims to absolve the MILF because (not doing so) might affect the peace process." (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (February 9, 2007 issue)
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