Spanish national Andres Garcia, 64, had been detained at a Bureau of Immigration detention cell in Davao City for quite some time for allegedly slapping someone in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. But his escape on June 12 after sawing off the iron grills in the toilet window of his detention cell was a slap in the face of Immigration guards and officials who were somehow outsmarted by the detainee.

Garcia can’t be blamed for escaping. His deportation order was already out in November 2017 as he was also an undocumented and overstaying alien. Why he was still detained until last month is something the BI has to explain.

The jailbreak could have been avoided had BI officials deported him earlier. Such mañana habit allowed Garcia to give that classic Spanish parting shot: hasta la vista (goodbye).