Duterte’s namesake and alleged ‘drug peddler’ bolts out of Zamboanga jail

ZAMBOANGA CITY — An alleged drug peddler known in the community as ‘Duterte’ escaped from prison on Sunday.

Abdusalim Modapil Mangongaya, aka Duterte, was able to slip out of the detention cell at the Margosatubig Municipal Police Station (MMPS) around 2 a.m. on Sunday.

Superintendent Fergen Torred, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office 9 (PRO9), told the Inquirer that “everything is still sketchy. Only one inmate escaped, not jailbreak, and the report reaching us is that [the] incident transpired between 2 to 4 a.m. kanina (earlier). Manhunt against the inmate ongoing.”

A police report from the MMPS stated that Mangongaya was arrested for illegal possession of prohibited drugs on July 5. He faces charges for violation of RA 9165, otherwise known as the Dangerous Drug act of 1972.

Torred said Mangongaya escaped prison by sawing up the iron bar of the back portion of the cell. During his escape, there were only two detainees inside. /ee