Cop’s family bears cross of Archival link

CCTN VIDEO GRAB

When Chief Insp. Eduardo Mara’s family heard reports of his alleged involvement in the killing of lawyer Noel Archival, his wife and two children broke down and cried. They immediately confronted him and demanded that he tell them the truth.

Mara, deputy chief of the regional office of the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG), insisted that he had nothing to do with the crime that also left two of Archival’s aides dead.

A teary-eyed Mara talked to reporters yesterday. He said his family is affected and that one of his three children, a university student, has no idea yet on the problem he is facing. “Mao na akong gikahadlokan kun makahibaw siya kay close kaayo nako ni siya,”said Mara. (I dread the day that he will learn about this, he is closest to me.)

Mara said he could not afford to kill Archival, who was friendly to him. He remembered that Archival even gave him a bottle of water after noticing that he was tired in a court hearing.

Mara was one of the respondents of a search warrant the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) served on the HPG impounding area in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City.

“Wa koy gitagoan nila. Akong giingnan nga dili tinuod,” he said. (I never hid anything from them. I told them it’s not true.)

He considers this the most difficult time of his career, being implicated in a crime he never did. Many of his friends called him up to ask. “Once ang reputation sa usa ka taw maguba maglisod na og bawi,” he said. (It’s difficult to recover from a damaged reputation.)

Mara appealed to the NBI to be careful in their probe so as not to implicate an “innocent person”.
On the move to place them under preventive suspension, Mara assured to heed orders from his superiors.

Aside from Mara, the other suspects are Senior Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, HPG regional chief; Senior Inspector Joselito Lerion, intelligence chief and SPO4 Edwin Galan, property custodian.

Mara assures he will not hide or escape. When asked where the other suspects are, he said Iglesia is in Manila while Lerion and Galan are here.