JUDGE Sylva Paderanga of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16 in Cebu City will handle the murder case of lawyer Noel Archival.
The case was raffled off last Monday upon a Supreme Court order to transfer the venue of the trial from the court in Argao town, south Cebu to the Cebu City RTC for security reasons.
Senior Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, Senior Insp. Joselito Lerion and PO1 Alex Bacani—three former troopers of the
Highway Patrol Group (HPG)—are facing charges of frustrated and multiple murder in relation to Archival’s murder.
Evidence gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation linked them to the crime.
The three remain at large. Arrest warrants were issued against them, but they have yet to be located by authorities.
The Archival family put up reward money for anyone who can give information that can lead to the arrest of the three policemen: P200,000 for Iglesia and Lerion and P100,000 for Bacani.
Last Jan. 26, the three men were dropped from the rolls of the Philippine National Police due to their alleged involvement in the case.
Archival, along with his aides Candido Miñoza, Alejandro Jaime, and Paolo Cortes, was headed back to Cebu City from Dumaguete City when he was ambushed by unidentified persons on board two vehicles. Only Cortes survived.