Griffiths' friends to give P100,000

CEBU, Philippines - Friends of British national Ian Charles Griffiths, who is one of two suspects in the kidnapping and death of a six-year-old girl, have raised funds to be given as reward to whoever can provide information that would lead to the arrest of the “true culprits” of the crime.

 This is the latest twist to the story about the death of Ellah Joy Pique, who was taken while she was on her way home from school last February.

Griffiths, along with his girlfriend Bella Ruby Santos, have been tagged as the suspects in the case of kidnapping with homicide.

The British national is in his home country while his girlfriend has remained missing since shortly before a warrant for her arrest was issued.

Lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo, counsel of Santos, said yesterday the friends of Griffiths have raised a total of P101,680.92 from July 29 to August 8.

 Villagonzalo said this will be given to those people who will point the “true suspects” who kidnapped and killed Ellah Joy.

The money is now with the lawyer and even showed it to the media.

“Giving reward money is not to disturb the case. We believe there are other suspects of this case. My clients were mistakenly identified as suspects,” he said.

 However, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)’s lawyer Inocencio de la Cerna commented, the move of defense was to muddle the process of the case.

“The reward money proposed by Griffiths is a diversionary tactic to the charges they face,” he said.

 Meanwhile, de la Cerna dared the counsel of Santos to present her in court so the trial can start and the evidence and testimonies of the witnesses can be presented.

He added the task force is optimistic they can arrest Santos through the help of the community.

Cheap gimmick

A ‘cheap gimmick’ and ‘publicity tactic’ was how Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, head of the Task Force Ellah Joy, described the act of Santos of giving relief goods to the victims of a recent fire.

In a press conference yesterday morning, Comendador said that Santos did it only to project an image of being good.

Instead of resorting to ‘desperate moves’, the provincial director reminded them not to alter the fact that Santos and her boyfriend have warrants of arrest.

“The first thing to do is to appear and face the trial kay ang paghatag niya way labot sa iyang kaso,” Comendador said.

He also said that the offer of the camp of Griffiths of over P100,000 to anybody who can pinpoint the “real culprits” does not change the fact that the warrant for their arrest is still not served.

The police said that one of the strongest proofs that they now hold are affidavits that there were private investigators hired by the couple to allegedly pay off the witnesses.

Reward

As of yesterday, the CPPO have collected P40,000 in their fund drive to raise reward money for the capture of Santos.

The provincial government has assured to augment the effort of the PNP in the manhunt for Santos.–/NLQ (FREEMAN)