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‘Ivler’s arrest an answered prayer’
An answered prayer.
This was how the father of murder victim Renato Ebarle Jr. described the arrest of his son’s alleged killer, Jason Ivler.
“Definitely it eases the pain. Definitely it’s an answered prayer," said a teary-eyed Presidential Management Staff undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. at a press briefing in Malacañang Monday.
He said he learned of Ivler’s arrest from Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
“Right after we learned it, my wife and my children cried, all of us, and then we thanked the Lord that finally Jason Ivler was arrested," he said.
The younger Ebarle was gunned down inside his vehicle on November 18, 2009, in Quezon City after an alleged traffic altercation with Ivler, who is wanted by authorities for the death of Nestor Ponce, a Malacañang undersecretary, in a road accident in August 2004.
Ivler, 28, was arrested Monday morning by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) following a brief firefight in his mother’s Quezon City residence. He was critically wounded in the encounter and is now recuperating at the Quirino Memorial Hospital.
The NBI assured that there would be no hospital arrest for Ivler.
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Mother’s love
The NBI, meanwhile, filed a complaint against Ivler’s mother, Marlene Aguilar-Pollard, for obstruction of justice before the Quezon City Inquest Prosecutor’s Office. A bail of P12,000 was recommended for Mrs. Aguilar's release.
A haggard-looking Mrs. Aguilar declined to answer reporters' questions on whether she plans to post bail, saying she was still in shock over the events. She will spend the night at the NBI headquarters in Manila.
Ebarle said Mrs. Aguilar’s husband and Ivler’s stepfather, Stephen Pollard, should also be held liable. “I think that should be done, obstruction of justice not just to Ms. Aguilar but including the stepfather, Mister Pollard," he said.
He added that a mother’s feeling or familial love is not a defense in harboring a fugitive from justice. He said the public should also think about his wife, who was devastated by the lost of their only son whom he said had never fired a gun in his life.
NBI director Nestor Mantaring said they would look into the possible liability of Mr. Pollard, an executive at the Asian Development Bank. Reward for tipster
The NBI said it learned of Ivler’s whereabouts from a tip from two informants will share the P1 million cash reward offered for the fugitive’s arrest.
“The informants will receive the cash," said NBI director Nestor Mantaring, who withheld the identities of the informants for security reasons.
Mantaring said that no amount would go to NBI as it is their duty to serve the warrant of arrest. - KBK, GMANews.TV
