As Ivler's health improves, NBI readies his transfer to detention cell

As his health continued to improve, slay suspect Jason Ivler now faces the prospect of being detained under one roof with Maguindanao massacre suspect Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent Rosauro Bautista on Sunday said they are waiting for doctors at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center to clear Ivler's discharge. “We will bring him to the NBI detention cell once his doctors give the clearance. We should secure him in time for his court hearing, so he can defend himself," said Bautista, one of the investigators who took part in the operation that led to Ivler’s arrest last January 18. This was Bautista’s response when asked in an interview on dzBB radio on Sunday whether Ivler would become a cell-mate of Ampatuan Jr. The NBI has only one detention facility in its Manila headquarters. Security at the detention cell was tightened since November when Ampatuan was detained there. But Bautista said there is still no definite timetable for the transfer, which would take place only when doctors give the go-signal for Ivler's discharge. So far, he said that Ivler has been moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room, indicating his medical condition had greatly improved. “Di ko masasabi, depende yan sa takbo ng kanyang kalusugan (I cannot give a definite timetable. It will depend on how quickly his condition improves)," he said. Bautista said witnesses’ accounts and forensic evidence belie the claims of Ivler’s mother Marlene Agular-Pollard linking a British bodyguard to the shooting of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. “Yun ang kanyang pananaw, ito ang sinasabi ng ina ni Jason sapagka’t alam natin pinoprotekta niya ang kanyang anak. Sa NBI, tinitingnan natin ang ebidensya na hawak natin (That is Mrs. Aguilar’s opinion that her bodyguard could have been the one to pull the trigger. But we know she is just protecting her son. At the NBI, we base our findings on the evidence we gathered)," Bautista said. Ebarle, who was shot dead in the November 2009 incident, was the son of Renato Ebarle Sr., an undersecretary at the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff. Ivler was arrested after two months in hiding. He was seriously wounded after engaging NBI agents in a shootout in his house in Quezon City last January 18. Last Friday, Aguilar-Pollard claimed British bodyguard Mark Hauser, who she said bore resemblance to Ivler, could have been the one who shot Ebarle Jr. “Natural sa kanya, she can take a thousand bullets. Ang atin ay ebidensya (It is natural for a mother to defend her son. She already said she would take a thousand bullets for him. But as far as we are concerned, we go by the evidence)," Bautista said. NBI cites witnesses’ claims, evidence Bautista said their “object evidence" still pointed to Ivler, as tests showed the cal-.45 pistol used in the Ebarle killing was the same used in firing at the NBI agents last Jan. 18. “Tugma ang baril sa ginamit kay Ebarle, yan ang ginamit sa pagputok sa amin (The pistol used in shooting Ebarle was the same one Ivler used in firing at us)," he said. On the other hand, he said witnesses’ accounts of the Ebarle shooting would belie Aguilar-Pollard’s claims that Hauser was the one who pulled the trigger. He said that aside from describing the shooter as a skinhead, the witnesses also positively identified Ivler through a tattoo on his arm. “Pareho silang walang buhok pero di magkasinglarawan ang kanilang mukha. Nakilala ng taong nakakita nang barilin niya si Ebarle (Ivler and Hauser may both be skinheads but their facial features are not identical, and our witnesses identified Ivler as the one who shot Ebarle)," he said. Bautista also chided Aguilar-Pollard for trying to mislead NBI agents on the day they arrested Ivler. He said that if she really loved Ivler, she should have just persuaded him to surrender. He added Ivler should not have gone into hiding in the first place if he were innocent. But because of what she did, Bautista said Aguilar-Pollard now faces charges of obstruction of justice. “Siya ang nagkanlong ... gusto pa niya ipahamak ang operatibang pumasok sa kanyang bahay (She not only hid Ivler, she also led agents to near death at her son’s hands)," he said. NBI ready for CHR probe Bautista said the NBI is ready for any investigation over claims that its agents allegedly violated Ivler’s rights when they arrested him. He also said that while the operation was far from perfect, they acted the best they could given the circumstances. "We are ready for any investigation. Our concern was to arrest him but he resisted, such that two of our agents were wounded," he said. Still, he said NBI Director Nestor Mantaring will fete the NBI agents who took part in Ivler’s arrest last week. Wounded in that operation were NBI agents Anna Lira-Labao and Angelito Magno. “Sa Monday may parangal na gagawin sa operatiba na sumama sa area mismo at may kinalaman sa paghuli kay Ivler (On Monday the operatives who took part in the operation to arrest Ivler will be honored)," Bautista said. - LBG, GMANews.TV