It’s been a year since lawyer Noel Archival was ambushed on the road in Dalaguete town. Three police officers accused of ordering him killed remain scot-free.
Executive Judge Soliver Peras of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City issued an alias warrant against suspects Romualdo Iglesia who held the rank of senior superintendent; Joselito Lerion who was a senior inspector; and Alex Bacani, ranked a PO1.
All three were formerly assigned with the Highway Patrol Group (HPG-7).
Last January, the three accused were dropped from the rolls of the PNP after they stopped reporting for work.
They were earlier transferred to Camp Crame and placed under camp restriction on April 16, 2014 after charges were filed against them.
The status was lifted after three months.
By the time a warrant was issued against the three in December 2014, they were no longer around. They no longer receive government pay and are considered civilians.
An alias warrant is issued by a trial court when the original warrant is returned in 10 days without being served. The original warrant for the arrest of the three accused was issued last December 2014 by Judge Maximo Perez of the RTC in Argao.
Perez eventually inhibited himself from handling the case.
The Archival family, through their lawyers, had requested Judge Peras to issue an alias warrant so law enforcers can go after the three accused.
In his order dated April 8, Peras said he found basis to grant it “without delving into the propriety or legality of the release of the three accused from temporary detention at the Personnel Holding and Accountancy Section of the Highway Patrol Group.”
The judge directed Police Deputy Director Generaal Benjamin Magalong, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, to “arrest high-profile fugitives” as soon as possible.
Lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo, representing the lone survivor in the ambush, welcomed the move.
He said that aside from the CIDG, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines expressed their willingness to locate and arrest the three accused.