Cop arrested for drugs but able to bolt jail

ORMOC CITY, Philippines — A policeman busted for drugs on Monday escaped detention on May 1, Labor Day, with the alleged help of a classmate policeman who is now also facing a complaint of “infidelity in the custody of a prisoner.”

The police have also filed a complaint against three civilians, including the alleged girlfriend, who the suspect aided the cop’s escape.

The escapee is PO1 Bernard Alvarez, 31, married, a native of Pastrana, Leyte and assigned to the Matag-ob municipal police station at the time of his arrest. He was arrested inside a pension house in this city when cops led by police chief Ibrahim Jambiran did a buy bust operation.

Confiscated from his possession were two sachets of suspected shabu and paraphernalia, including his 9mm service firearm.

The cop pinpointed in abetting his escape is PO1 Michael Nierras, a batch mate of the suspect from PNP Batch Tagapusil 2010. Also facing a complaint for abetting his escape is his alleged girlfriend Vanessa, her half-brother Mark and friend Katrina. Full names have been withheld to protect the identity of the women suspects.

PO1 Benigno Muego, officer on duty, said that Nierras asked for Alvarez to be let out of detention “for investigation” at around 10:00 AM of May 1. Nierras claimed that he had the permission of SPO1 Oscar Cobacha who denies the allegation.

Chief Insp. Ibrahim Jambiran, in a phone interview, said that it was only after a few hours that the absence of Alvarez and Nierras was noted. After which, they went to hunt them. Jambiran said they went as far as Dagami, Alvarez’s hometown, to find him but to no avail.

While in the area, Jambiran said, he received advise from PNP regional director Ch. Supt. Henry Losanes to return to Ormoc because they were taking over the hunt for Alvarez.

When he returned to Ormoc, he was given the information that Nierras, the cop who aided Alvarez to escape, had surrendered to PNP city director Jose Macanas. At around 10:00 PM, he took custody of Nierras but had to release him after the 9-hour reglamentary period passed.

Jambiran added that before releasing Nierras, he offered him a deal to recapture Alvarez and if he is able to do so, could be used to plea bargain for the charge of infidelity against him. The complaint, he said, is punishable with dismissal from service “on the administrative side.”

The troubles of the Ormoc police force continue to pile up. Around two weeks ago, 10 cops at including two officers were relieved from the police station 3 here following a buy bust that went bad, resulting to the killing of three people, including a dentist.

While the cops killed their target, the fact that it was done in the vicinity of a cockpit filled with civilians opened the operation to questions of procedural lapses. It also highlighted the fact that illegal cockfights were tolerated by authorities because they did not bother to stop it, and their only interest in being in the area was to catch a small-time drug pusher.