TWENTY-seven-year-old Arnel Mait just looked like other usual visitors when he slipped past the security guard of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) last Monday morning.
He had a stamp similar to that being marked on the arms of jail visitors and also wore a visitor’s ID, according to Marco Toral, the Capitol’s consultant on jail matters.
Toral said that during the head count at 6:45 a.m. last Monday, Mait was already gone. Upon reviewing video footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, they found out that the escape happened around 6:30 a.m., around the same time visitors who were allowed to sleep in the jail during weekends left.
“We didn’t notice because he made his own stamp similar to that of visitors. He was also able to secure a visitor’s ID. I’m sure he really planned it well,” Toral said.
Mait has only been detained for six months in the CPDRC and is undergoing trial for violation of Sections 5 and 11 of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 which is on the prohibition of selling and possessing illegal drugs. He also had a case for robbery.
Once he got out of the facility, CCTV footage showed that Mait called the attention of a habal-habal driver outside the CPDRC and fled. As of yesterday afternoon, the escapee was still at large.