Drug suspect in Or. Mindoro escapes from his jailers

CALAPAN CITY, Philippines – A “high-profile” illegal drug suspect, who was just turned over by his captors at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to the Oriental Mindoro provincial jail in anticipation of a long court battle for illegal drug pushing case, has escaped from his jailers under the provincial government authority  Monday evening.

Reported escaped from his jailers despite being tagged as a “big time” drug pusher and supposedly a maximum security prisoner was Edward Margate y Bautista, alias “Bato,” a 42-year old resident of Brgy. Ibaba West, this city.

Margate is facing a string of illegal drug-related cases, from using, peddling and pushing of illegal drugs substance in large volumes, offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, or Republic Act No. 9165.

Information gathered by some newsmen-members of the Capitol Press Corps (CPC) revealed that  on or about 8 p.m. of December 3, while some jailers at the provincial jail here were seen watching a local live program just outside the prison, Margate escaped from his prison cell.

It was only after about an hour (at 9 p.m.)  when the jailers learned of Margate’s escape after one of the jailers  conducted a random head count inside the detention facility.  The incident was immediately reported to Provincial Jail Warden former police colonel Marcelino Romero.

Curiously, the provincial jail was supposedly a heavily-guarded as the penitentiary is located inside the provincial capitol compound of Oriental Mindoro in this city, where another set of guards from a separate civil security unit is supposedly watching over the entire area.

The warden concerned, Romero, however failed to report at once Margate’s escape to Provincial Administrator Angel Saulong, who in turn, was recently designated by Governor Alfonso V. Umali Jr. as the detention’s officer-in-charge.

Two weeks ago, Margate was arrested by PDEA agents on a buy-bust operation, yielding some two kilos of powdered methamphetamine hydrochloric acid, better known as shabu,  that were found in his possession.  The suspect was turned over on Sunday, December 2, to the provincial jail for the latter  to act as custodian while Margate was facing court proceedings relative to his case.

Romero refused to be interviewed by the media regarding the incident and as of press time, has yet to issue an official report on this.   The provincial  said they are now conducting a province-wide manhunt on the fugitive.

Umali, for his part, ordered his provincial administrator to conduct a separate investigation on the incident.