Tacloban inmate arrested in Mandaue

CEBU, Philippines - A former boxer and inmate of the Tacloban City Jail was arrested in a boarding house in Sitio Maharlika, Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City, yesterday morning.

Earlier last Wednesday afternoon, Patrocinio Raya Jr., 35, arrived in Cebu on board a C130 plane from Tacloban City with only his clothes and P6,000 cash.

Raya said that prior to his arrest in 2002 for an illegal drugs case, which was never heard in court, he was a boxer who went by the screen June Fajardo and won several boxing titles representing Region 8.

During his arrest yesterday morning, Raya told the police that he never escaped from jail during the typhoon; rather he was among the 70 detainees who were allowed to go home by their jail warden.

Raya said that he decided to stay in Mandaue City upon his arrival at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Airbase last Wednesday afternoon as he remembered that his friends; well-known boxers Malcolm Tuñacao, Brix Flores and Seigred Dignos, are all residents of that city.

He said that he was eager to look for them as he wanted their help to rebuild his house in Tacloban City.

“Pumunta talaga ako dito para humingi ng tulong sa mga kaibigan ko para maitayo ulit bahay namin,” he said.

Raya reiterated that he never hid his identity or that he was a detainee of the Tacloban City Jail. He said he even told his landlady about it. He said he was pointed to the boarding house by three students who asked if he was a typhoon survivor.

“I told them my real identity for I am not here in Cebu to create any trouble,” Raya said.

The first thing he bought in Cebu was a dual SIM mobile phone worth P2,400.

Raya also asked forgiveness from Cebuanos for the disturbance he caused.

He lost two children and his brother Rusdam and father Patrocinio Sr. during the typhoon. The body of Ron-ron, 11, has yet to be found while the body of Che-che, eight years old, was found inside a drum of a gasoline.

Raya said that when the super typhoon struck, some prisoners died after they suffered a heart attack when the seawaters entered the city jail. They immediately evacuated to the gym in the same compound. The storm surge destroyed the entrance of the jail. 

Raya said he was part of the first batch permitted to go home, but the second batch was no longer allowed to go home by the military.

He said he was excited at first; expecting to see his family, before he found out that their house had been destroyed and his children and relatives killed.

He said that to survive he had to take money from the cadavers he came across.

“Hindi naman nila kailangan ang pera, kaya kinukuha ko na,” he said. However, he denied being part of the looting in Tacloban.

Chief Insp. Jimmy Aguisanda, station commander of Centro police station said it was the owner of the boarding house who called police yesterday morning.

Raya is temporarily detained at the Centro police station while waiting to be transported back to the Tacloban City Jail. (FREEMAN)