Cops Hunt Cebu Village Chief Who Bolted Jail

The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CCPO) has launched a manhunt against a barangay chairman considered by authorities as “high-valued target”, who escaped from jail on Tuesday night.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 (Central Visayas) director, Brigadier General Debold Sinas, said elements of the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) of the CCPO are conducting a manhunt against Jinnefer Mercader, also known as “Iper”.

Mercader reportedly managed to break out from the Medellin District Jail at past 7 p.m. on Tuesday, without being detected by the jail guards.

Sinas warned the police and the public that the escapee is “armed and dangerous”.

“He is really armed and dangerous… kon makita ninyo ni, ayaw gyud mo pagduol ug itawag ug i-report sa polis nato kay tanang polis nakahibawo na sa iyang pag-eskapo (if you see him, don’t get closer to him, call and report to the police because the entire police force knows that he has escaped),” he said.

Sinas said the police are tracking down the escapee through his “well-known and identified hideouts” in the province.

“We have established joint trackers with the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology),” the PRO-7 chief said, adding that the police have “disseminated the pictures of Mercader to all police stations, checkpoints, all provincial offices”.

Pictures of Mercader also circulated over social media.

Mercader, 42, is facing criminal charges of possession of illegal drugs and illegal possession of firearms. He was arrested in his house in Sitio Dapdap, Barangay Cahel in Borbon, Cebu on Sept. 2, 2017.

Seized from Mercader’s possession were an M-4 assault rifle loaded with 20 live bullets, shabu with an estimated value of PHP311,000 and PHP120,000 cash.

Upon his arrest, the suspect was incumbent chief of Barangay Lugo, Borbon town. (PNA)