Where is the gray Mitsubishi Strada pickup believed to have been used in the fatal ambush of lawyer Noel Archival and his two companions?
It was last seen inside the impounding area of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) at barangay Sudlon, Cebu City, according to agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7).
However, the vehicle was no longer there when agents showed up to serve a search warrant last Thursday for a red Toyota Vios sedan and Strada pickup.
“It was driven out of the HPG impounding area (before we searched the place). The security guard was told to no longer record it in their logbook,” said NBI agent Rennan Augustus Oliva.
He said the security guard gave an official statement to the NBI about it.
INVENTORY
During the search, the NBI-7 found one of the two vehicles they were looking for, a red Toyota Vios with plate number GSC 675 inside the HPG impounding area.
Based on the NBI’s inventory, the red sedan was owned by Ruel Rivera but other documents inside the car showed registration papers for a Toyota Vios with the same plate number registered to Nora Yera, a resident of Lapu-Lapu City.
What also caught the NBI’s attention was a photocopy of a pleading, a “Motion For Extension to File Counter-Affidavit” from the Noel D. Archival and Associates.
ILLEGAL
The red car will be examined for any gunpowder residue or other clues to check if this was the same vehicle used by the killers of Archival and his aides.
Tagged as “suspects” by the NBI were Supt. Ro mualdo Iglesia, head of the HPG-7; Senior Insp. Eduardo Mara; Senior Insp. Joselito Lerion; and SPO4 Edwin Galan. They also denied any part in the ambush.
Aside from murder charges, NBI-7 director Max Salvador said they’ll also file charges of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, particularly on “using impounded vehicles”.
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