By BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
KALIBO, Aklan — Authorities had to release the suspected trader of abortifacient drugs arrested and detained on Tuesday last week.
No charge has been filed against Neil Dann Mabaquiao, 29, of Jaro, Iloilo City within the 48-hour reglementary period.
The Department of Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was yet to issue a certification on the alleged abortion drugs seized from the suspect, said Senior Inspector John Paul Tovera, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group provincial chief.
Mabaquiao sold pads of Cytotec and methylergometrin (Methergin) and vials of Ceftriaxone Sodium powder to a policeman posing as buyer in an entrapment operation in Gaisano Capital mall here.
The abortion-inducing drugs were then submitted to FDA, formerly the Bureau of Food and Drugs, for examination.
“Hindi nakapag-issue ng certification ang BFAD (FDA),” Tovera said in a text message. “’Yon ang naging kulang kasi hindi makapag-decide ang fiscal kung magkano ang bail na i-recommend nila. Doon [sana] sila magbe-base sa certification.”
Cytotec is used to prevent gastric ulcers, treat miscarriages or induce labor.
It is often used with Methergin, originally developed to treat post-pregnancy bleeding and improve the uterine tone.
Abortion is illegal in the Philippines.
Tovera suspected that Mabaquiao, a nursing graduate, was behind the proliferation of abortifacients in Western Visayas. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
