Police recaptured five escaped inmates who allegedly hijacked a bus and held its passengers hostage in the Philippines.

Cops intercepted the convicts as they were riding a coach along the STAR Tollway in Batangas on Monday, July 28.

Officers carrying shields surrounded the vehicle while it was parked at a tollway restroom area. They negotiated for 20 minutes and convinced the five men to surrender peacefully to authorities.

The inmates climbed out of the bus windows and were cuffed without resisting. Police seized from them a .9mm pistol, some bullets, a butterfly knife, and 59,000 PHP (770 GBP) in cash.

In a statement, the Police Regional Office 4A said 10 'persons deprived of liberty' (PDLs) escaped the Batangas Provincial Rehabilitation Centre that morning.

The statement read: 'Based on initial investigation, while a prison guard was escorting some PDLs to the public utility room, one of them pointed an ice pick at him, took his gun and pointed it at him. Other prisoners took advantage of the opportunity to escape to Brgy. Quilo, Ibaan.'

Five of the 10 fugitives were found to have boarded the bus, which was headed to the crowded transportation hub Cubao in Metro Manila.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Marlon Cabatana, Sto. Tomas City police chief, clarified that no hostage-taking took place, contrary to initial reports.

He said: 'Initially, the prisoners demanded a media presence to make sure they were safe. We called media but they were soon convinced to surrender peacefully. I talked to their leader, he said they just wanted to talk to their families. They did not want violence.

'According to our initial assessment, we saw that they had no intention of fighting. There was no hostage taking, and we convinced them to surrender peacefully.'

Police also praised level-headed bus driver Angelito Alcantara, who bought them enough time to arrive at the tollway by pretending bus staff needed to go to the toilet.

The driver said he was alerted that the runaway inmates were among his passengers.

He said: 'I pulled over in Sto. Tomas because I was notified police cars were following us. I made the bus conductor use the toilet so that we could stay at the toll gate for a while. I was really nervous. I feared they would take someone hostage or hold me at gunpoint.'

The escaped prisoners - who were jailed on charges of murder, robbery, homicide, and illegal drug use - claimed they were being treated inhumanely at the prison.

One of them said: 'It was spur of the moment. The jail guards have been beating us up since they changed guards. We hope we will not be returned to the same facility because we might get killed there.'

Officials said three other jailbreakers were tracked down through drones, and caught in a forest near the detention facility. All recaptured inmates will face additional charges, including carrying a bladed weapon and illegal firearms.

Police were hunting the two remaining prisoners still at large.