Detained Ivler: 'I handle things so well people think I get VIP treatment'

Jason Ivler, accused of killing two people in two separate road slay incidents, denied on Friday that he was getting "special treatment" at the Quezon City Jail. In an interview with GMA News, Ivler claimed he was simply handling his situation very well behind bars, and people might only be misinterpreting his demeanor. "[Maybe they think] that because I am not sad, I must be getting some sort of good treatment or something different from what anybody else is getting," Ivler said. "But if you look around, nobody's really that sad... You could choose to get depressed if you like or you can choose to make the most of your situation," he added. Ivler insisted he was getting the same treatment other prisoners are getting, adding that his mother Marlene Aguilar-Pollard and stepfather Steve Pollard actually only get to visit him once a week. The murder suspect also said he wondered why the public seemed overly interested in his case, when there are bigger issues they should pay attention to. Ivler said the photos widely circulating on social networking sites such as Facebook in the last few days were not recent ones and were actually taken in 2009 and 2010. The photos showed Ivler having parties inside his detention cell, with girls and liquor being allowed to be brought in. He added that some people might just be spreading the old photographs in the Internet just to "give color" to his murder case. Meanwhile, Quezon City Jail head Senior Superintendent Hernan Grande also denied giving a "very important person (VIP)" treatment to Ivler, but said an investigation to the "partying" incidents has already started. Aside from Ivler, jail personnel will also be investigated, Grande added. Ivler is charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide for the death of Nestor Ponce Jr – the adviser for resettlement of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – in a car crash in 2004. In 2009, he was once more in hot water after being charged for the killing of Ramon Ebarle Jr, son of Arroyo’s former chief of staff, Ramon Ebarle Sr., during a traffic altercation in 2009. — LBG, GMA News