Engr. Nelson Archival comforts the eldest daughter of his slain brother, Noel.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
To ensure that the real assailant will be arrested, the family of slain lawyer Noel Archival welcomed the possibility of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)’s entry into the investigation of the murder.
Archival’s brother Engr. Nelson Archival said friend-lawyers of his brother are closely monitoring the investigation undertaken by the task force that was created to identify and arrest the perpetrators.
“There’s a possibility that we will be asking the help of the NBI. If the police and the NBI work together, the better. But we trust our policemen. Let the task force prove they are capable of solving this crime,” Nelson said.
The Dumaguete police is also helping its Cebu counterparts in investigating the Archival ambush.
Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., chief of Negros Provincial Police Office (NPPO) said they are reviewing the cases handled by Archival in Dumaguete along with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-7).
EFFECTIVE STEPS
Court Administrator Midas Marquez yesterday echoed calls for law enforcers to identify and arrest the perpetrators in the ambush-slay of Archival and his companions.
“What happened to Atty. Archival is really sad. As of the moment, we want the case to be resolved right away and the culprits be brought before the bar of justice. We’re calling on our law enforcers, if they can, to immediately solve this crime,” Marquez told reporters.
Marquez, along with Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, came to Cebu last Friday for a dialogue with lawyers and judges on the looming transfer of the Cebu City courthouse to Qimonda IT Center as well as the security of court personnel and litigants.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) Cebu province chapter also released a resolution which condemned Archival’s murder.
The IBP Cebu province, through its president Erwin Rommel Heyrosa urged authorities, particularly the Philippine National Police, the NBI and the Department of Justice, to “discharge their respective duties and ensure that effective steps be taken to bring the perpetrators of this dastardly crime to justice.”
ORDINARY CITIZENS
The lawyers’ group also requested the government to come up with necessary measures to ensure the safety of lawyers and the citizenry in general.
Archival and his three companions, got ambushed on their way to Cebu City last Tuesday afternoon.
His aide, Candido Miñoza died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds while his driver Alejandro Jayme was declared dead on arrival at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital.
Another aide, Paolo Cortes, survived the attack although he sustained a gunshot wound on his left arm./ With Correspondent Chito Aragon