When lawyer Noel Archival and his two aides were gunned down in barangay Coro, Dalaguete in Feb. 18, the question of who masterminded the killing was on everyone’s mind. The gruesome murder was perpetrated in broad daylight and in a manner that only organized criminals could have done.
Noel and companions were then on their way back to Cebu City after attending a court hearing in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. They passed through Dalaguete town aboard a Ford Escape when unidentified men riding in a red Toyota Vios blocked their path and rained shots fired from M-16 rifles on Noel’s sports utility vehicle. Security camera footage provided by the closed-circuit television cameras installed by Dalaguete town showed that two Mitsubishi Strada pickups were also seen there. A silver pickup truck was reported to have tailed Noel and his companions prior to the ambush.
The choreography or management of the crime was such that Noel had no chance of coming out of the attack alive. The other question then that was foremost in the minds of his family, friends and coworkers in the legal profession was: What could be the motive behind the killing? Motive is intent, which translates to willfulness and deliberation or in legal terms, premeditation.
Nearly two months into the ambush slaying, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas and Special Investigation Task Force Archival of the Philippine National Police appear to have cracked the case.
Charges of multiple murder and frustrated murder had been filed against five officials of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in Central Visayas, namely Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, HPG-7 Director; Senior Insp. Eduardo Mara, HPG-7 provincial chief; Senior Insp. Joselito Lerion, HPG-7 special operations team head; SPO4 Edwin Galan, HPG-7 designated custodian; and PO1 Alex Bacani. The joint investigating team alleged that the respondents conspired to ambush Archival and his aides Candido Miñoza and Alejandro Jayme in Dalaguete, Cebu last Feb. 18.
To recall, the NBI was able to trace and recover the red Toyota Vios sedan, believed to be one of the cars used in the ambush, in the HPG-7 compound in Sudlon, Cebu City last March 19.
Information gathered by the NBI from the security logbook of the HPG-7 showed Lerion taking the Toyota Vios out of the compound in the morning of the day Noel and his companions were killed. The security logbook also showed entries the HPG-7 chief driving the Mitsubishi Strada out of the impounding area on Feb. 17, or the day before the ambush took place.
I hear comments tending to downplay the circumstantial evidence but based on information, the NBI and the PNP Special Task Force have built quite a solid case.
In December last year, Archival filed separate administrative and criminal cases against HPG-7 officials Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, Senior Insp. Eduardo Mara and Senior Insp. Joselito Lerion before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices.
The cases for dishonesty, grave misconduct and falsification of public documents stemmed from a complaint filed by Archival’s clients Jane Catherine Go and Chris Reinz.
Sometime in October last year, Jane Catherine was driving her Nissan X-Trail in Mabolo when she was flagged down by HPG-7 agents who later accused Go of driving a stolen car. Reinz was included in the case because his name appeared as owner of the Nissan X-Trail. Go denied the charge and accused SPO1 Aldrin Gulingan of HPG-7 of demanding P200,000 in exchange for the release of her car. Lerion defended Gulingan but Archival still filed the case against Gulingan. Not only that, he went to the Military Ombudsman to file criminal and graft cases against top HPG-7 officials.
I happen to know Jane Catherine Go through friends in the travel sector and I was shocked to learn she was virtually accused of carnapping. It took courage on her part to stand up and turn the tables on her accusers.
Noel Archival stepped on the toes of top HPG-7 officials.
Did he, on account of the Go/Reinz case, stumble on something deep and terrifying?
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