Nationwide manhunt for US suspect in Ebarle slay

The police are expanding their manhunt for the American suspect in the road-rage killing of a government official's son after fruitless raids on the homes of folk music legend Freddie Aguilar and British national Stephen Pollard, the uncle and stepfather respectively of suspect Jason Ivler, who is known to be armed and dangerous. “We’re conducting a nationwide manhunt to make him (Ivler) account for this gruesome and heinous crime. We’re employing all territorial forces in land, air, and sea and we're ordering all national operational support units to leave no stone unturned," Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina told GMANews.TV.

The Philippine National Police will soon be circulating a computer-generated image (CGI) of the suspect to air and seaports around the country. Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego of the Quezon City Police District said they are scouring all possible hiding places of Ivler, including Tagaytay City in Cavite province. “Di namin tinitigilan. Hanggang Tagaytay makararating tayo para ang suspected na tinataguan pupuntahan natin lahat (We have not stopped hunting him down. We are extending the search to Tagaytay City, we want to cover all possible hiding places of Ivler)," San Diego told dzRH radio. The Quezon City police said they are preparing to file murder charges against Ivler, who is in his late 20s, before the city prosecutors' office for the November 18 killing of 27-year-old Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., the only son of Presidential Chief of Staff Renato Ebarle Sr. According to witnesses, Ivler shot Ebarle at close range with a .45 caliber pistol in what appeared to be a case of road rage, after the vehicles of Ivler and Ebarle were seen moving along Boni Serrano Avenue at night engaged in hostile behavior towards each other. Ivler was already a fugitive wanted for another fatal crime. In 2004, he was driving a vehicle that crashed into the car of Presidential Assistant for Resettlement Nestor Ponce Jr., who was killed in the incident. Ivler was arrested in Zamboanga City as he tried to escape by boat to Malaysia. At the time of the Ebarle killing, Ivler was free on bail, but since he had not been attending hearings related to the Ponce case he was considered a fugitive. The National Bureau of Investigation is also involved in the intensive manhunt that covered various parts of Metro Manila over the weekend. Last Saturday, PNP and NBI agents searched Freddie Aguilar's house in New Manila in Quezon City and the house of the suspect's stepfather Stephen Pollard in Libis, Quezon City. They failed to find Ivler in both instances. Pollard is Ivler's stepfather, a British national, and an economist with the Asian Development Bank. Ivler was riding a Honda CR-V with diplomatic plates registered in Pollard's name when the killing occurred. Pollard is married to the writer Marlene Aguilar, Freddie Aguilar's younger sister. A mother's plea On Sunday, Marlene was heard in an ABS-CBN report pleading for her son to surrender to authorities. "To Jason, I say if you are guilty, I beg you with all my heart to surrender yourself and face this." "If you are guilty then I have accepted your death," she said in a statement read at the launching of her novel, Warriors of Heaven, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Undersecretary Ebarle Sr., however, expressed doubts about Aguilar's sincerity. "Ang paniwala ko (My belief is that), they are just denying it. I urge them to please cooperate with the police and the NBI," the victim's father said. A radio dzBB report, meanwhile, quoted Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano Jr. of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit as saying that they are verifying where Ivler got his firearm. The PNP earlier said that based on available records at the Firearms and Explosives Division, there are no firearms registered under Jason Ivler's name. Elenzano warned those hiding Ivler that they face criminal charges of obstruction of justice if they are caught aiding the suspect. San Diego said Ivler faces added charges after he was found driving without a license when he allegedly shot Ebarle. License revoked San Diego said Ivler’s driver’s license was revoked after he figured in the August 2004 car crash that killed presidential adviser Nestor Ponce. The case remains pending before a local court in Pasig City. Last week, the QCPD said Pollard declined to identify who was driving the vehicle Ivler was allegedly riding at the time of Ebarle Jr's killing. Pollard said "his lawyer stopped him from answering" even as he affirmed that the Honda CR-V with diplomatic plate number 20903 belonged to him. - HS, GMANews.TV