ON THE LOOSE. A mugshot of convicted rapist Edgar Dumagsa, who escaped from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm on June 26, 2024. Manhunt operations are underway to recapture him. (Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Corrections)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Authorities are on a manhunt to recapture a convicted rapist who broke out of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in this city sometime on Wednesday afternoon.
Eden Larawan, the penal facility’s spokesperson, told reporters on Thursday that prison guards discovered 46-year-old Manila native Edgar Dumagsa missing during a routine headcount of inmates.
“During the accounting of PDLs (persons deprived of liberty), it was discovered that there was one missing. He was received by the Bureau of Corrections in 2008, but his sentence was reduced in 2016 due to an appeal," she said.
Larawan said a “public alert” has been issued and the local police have been called to track down the escaped inmate, who may still be hiding out in vegetated areas or villages around the penal colony.
Dumagsa was the second Iwahig inmate to stage a successful escape this year, the first being convicted murdered Jaime Calicdan, who went missing on June 14, she noted.
However, Calicdan was recaptured the very next day in El Nido town, some 275 kilometers from Iwahig.
Iwahig penal farm is one of the most unique correctional facilities in the world as inmates are generally not put behind bars. Instead, they are allowed to roam free around the sprawling facility.
Spanning over 26,000 hectares, Iwahig is the largest open penal colony in the Philippines, allowing inmates significant movement and freedom within its forested boundaries. (PNA)
