As this developed, Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Vicente Loot said police are conducting a manhunt against the two escapees identified as Eduardo dela Concepcion and Roel Arabis. The two sneaked out of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) by mingling with relatives of inmates who were there for the family day.

Dela Concepcion, in mid-30s and from Barangay Ocaña, Carcar town, was committed to the Cebu provincial jail on Dec. 6, 2003 for a rape case, which remains pending. Arabis, on the other hand, in his early 20s and from Arellano Blvd., Cebu Cit is facing a double murder case and was brought to the jail last March 7.

Sources said that dela Concepcion and Arabis disguised themselves as visitors by changing from their orange inmate shirts into the clothes their relatives brought them. They then calmly walked out of the jail together with some visitors who left the jail before the family day ended at 4 p.m.

Elisa Badayos Geverola, wife of political detainee Jigger Geverola, was seated on a bench outside a small eatery a few meters from the CPDRC gate when she witnessed the escape.

She said the two inmates were already walking down the road connecting the jail in Barangay Kalunasan to Guadalupe when a guard called their attention.

"One of them showed a visitor’s stamp on a forearm. Then both of them ran away," Elisa said.

A few minutes later, the guards, sensing something was amiss, sounded the alarm and fielded men to chase the inmates.

From the quadrangle, where the family day is held regularly, visitors had to pass through gates before reaching the main steel gate. Each of the three gates has a guard.

At least 16 surveillance cameras are also being used inside the prison.

Capitol Consultant Pablo John Garcia yesterday said that the escape was caused by human error and not because of the lack of equipment and security gadgets. He said an investigation will be conducted to determine who are liable for the escape of the two notorious prisoners.