Immigration on alert for Ivler stepdad

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is now on alert to monitor the movements of British consultant Stephen Pollard, the stepfather of road rage slay suspect Jason Aguilar Ivler who allegedly shot dead Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. during a traffic altercation last Nov. 18 in Quezon City.

BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said Pollard, a consultant of the Asian Development Bank and husband of Ivler’s mother Marlene Aguilar, has been placed on the bureau’s alert list since Thursday, which means that the Briton’s whereabouts would be monitored.

Libanan, however, clarified that Pollard is not on the bureau’s watch list or hold order list.

He said that if Pollard decides to leave the country, the BI would allow him since there are no charges filed against the Briton.

Charges of obstruction of justice were filed against Ivler’s mother Marlene for harboring an accused and for refusing to report to authorities Ivler’s presence in her house.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nestor Mantaring had said that Pollard is not yet off the hook since both Marlene and Pollard failed to cooperate with authorities when they were trying to look for Ivler, Marlene’s son from a previous marriage.

Libanan yesterday said that Ivler is still on the BI watch list even though he had already been arrested.

NBI agents nabbed Ivler, who had evaded law enforcers for two months, after a shootout last Monday at his mother’s house at No. 23 Hillside Drive in Blue Ridge subdivision that left the suspect and two government agents wounded.

Ivler suffered gunshot wounds in the right shoulder and abdomen and underwent surgery and is now confined at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC).

Ivler was transferred yesterday from the intensive care unit of the QMMC to a private room.

Lawyer Angelito Magno, chief of the NBI Special Action Unit (SAU), sustained a graze on his right thigh and was brought to the Medical City for treatment, while special investigator Anna Lira Labao sustained bullet shrapnel wounds on her chest and was also hospitalized.

Mantaring said that the examination report from the NBI Firearms Investigation Division (FID) has revealed that the Kimber .45 caliber pistol with serial no. MJ59102 recovered from Ivler after the shootout was the same weapon used in the killing of Ebarle Jr., son of Malacañang undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., during a road rage incident at the corner of Boni Serrano St. and Ortigas Ave. in Quezon City.

The NBI raiding team also recovered a US-made Rock River Arms AR-15 rifle with serial no. CM207379 and a tactical vest with bullet magazines and ammunition from Ivler, a nephew of folksinger Freddie Aguilar.

Mantaring said Ivler is now facing additional charges of attempted murder for the wounding of Magno, frustrated murder for the wounding of Labao, and direct assault with illegal possession of firearms for the shootout with the NBI agents.

The suspect was earlier charged with murder for the killing of Ebarle and a separate homicide through reckless imprudence for the death of presidential adviser Nestor Ponce during another traffic accident in 2004. Ivler has two standing arrest warrants in connection with the two cases.

Libanan said Ivler would remain on the BI watch list in case he escapes, and if a case would be filed against him, “he would be placed on our hold departure order.”

He also explained that it would take a while before the 27-year-old Ivler, an American citizen, is deported since the criminal case filed against him would first undergo trial in a local court. If convicted, he would have to serve his sentence here before any deportation is considered.

Libanan said in the event that the cases filed against Ivler were dropped based on his innocence then there would be a slim chance that he would be deported. However, if the case is dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence the BI might decide to send him back to the United States.

He explained that the “degree of evidence in criminal cases is different from the deportation. In the criminal evidence, they have to prove that the case is beyond reasonable doubt while in the BI we would assess if he violated any immigration laws - (if) he is already overstaying in the country.”

Aguilar’s elder brother folksinger Freddie said he had earlier advised his sister to surrender Jason if he is really innocent.

The elder Aguilar said he even told his sister not to tolerate Jason’s mistakes and surrender him to the authorities to avoid any untoward incident.

Aguilar denied knowing where his nephew was hiding, adding that until now he could not believe what Jason is being accused of.

Not shell shocked

The father of Ivler’s victim expressed confidence that the suspect will remain in the country and face the charges despite the attempts of his family to portray him as an innocent man.

Ebarle Sr. lamented that there are attempts to create sympathy for Ivler, a former US soldier, by claiming that he was suffering from shell shock after serving in the Iraq war.

The elder Ebarle said that he could not accept claims that Ivler is suffering from shellshock because he had been involved in a previous incident that resulted in the death of Palace consultant Nestor Ponce Jr. in 2004.

“Some people want to create sympathy by saying that he suffers from battle shock. I don’t believe this because before he became a soldier, he was already a fugitive of the law,” Ebarle said.

Ivler’s mother claims ‘frame up’

Ivler’s mother Marlene Aguilar has raised the “possibility” that her son is being framed and her missing British bodyguard may have been the real gunman.

Aguilar insisted her son was set up in a “conspiracy” to get back at her.

“It’s too complicated,” Aguilar told reporters yesterday. She had mentioned in the past about alleged threats to her family because of her published articles regarding the “war mongering” of the United States.

She identified her British bodyguard as Mark Hauser, who has been missing for the past three weeks. Hauser has been her bodyguard for two years.

“I’ve always told you that my son was set up. Is it possible that Mark was just planted in my house?” Aguilar said.

Aguilar said Hauser could be mistaken for Ivler, noting that the bodyguard is also Caucasian and is bald with a tattoo on his right arm. She said Hauser also had military training.

She said both Ivler and Hauser were out of the house on the night of Nov. 18 when Ebarle Jr. was killed.

Aguilar said she was sure Ivler was at a bar in Makati at the time of the shooting.

She said that she started to suspect that Hauser may have been involved after family members pointed to the missing bodyguard as the man they saw on television being presented as the informant of the NBI.

“If he (Hauser) could sell us out, then he could do everything else,” Aguilar said.

She said Hauser had access to the keys of the vehicles at the house just like Ivler.

When asked for a reaction regarding the NBI statement that the caliber Kimber .45 caliber pistol recovered from Ivler when he was arrested on Monday matched the gun used in the killing of Ebarle last year, Aguilar said: “Is it possible that he (Hauser) had access to these guns?”

She also disclosed that she had even advised Hauser late last year when authorities were checking on the Blue Ridge residence to temporarily stay at the house of one of her relatives, thinking the authorities could mistake the bodyguard for her son.

“I never doubted his (Hauser’s) loyalty until I realized that it was him who sold us out,” she said.

Aguilar said she had met with a team from the Commission on Human Rights that arrived at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center yesterday morning. She said the CHR team has asked the hospital for a report on Ivler’s condition.

Aguilar had earlier complained that NBI agents had treated her son harshly.

“My family is persecuted before my son is proven guilty. Sadly in this country, you are guilty before any trial. I have no hatred but I will never understand this cruelty,” Aguilar said.

NBI debunks Aguilar’s claim

Lawyer Ruel Lasala, NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Services, said there is no legal basis for the claim of Aguilar that her British bodyguard Hauser and not her son killed Ebarle.

He said the NBI would not investigate the claims of Marlene because there is no legal basis to probe Hauser.

Lasala said the bureau had already finished the investigation of the Ebarle killing and the court should decide on Ivler’s case.

He said the witnesses of the NBI and Quezon City police have positively identified Ivler as the one who shot Ebarle.

“This was the reason for the serving of the warrant of arrest by a Quezon City judge,” said Lasala.

NBI Deputy Director for Technical Services Reynaldo Esmeralda said ballistics examination on the Kimber .45 caliber pistol that was recovered from Ivler after the shootout with government agents at Blue Ridge confirmed that the gun was the same weapon used in the killing of Ebarle.

“His (Ivler’s) defense before will no longer hold water. The NBI has established that Ivler was at the scene of the crime (when Ebarle was shot). We have an airtight case,” Esmeralda told The STAR.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Nestor Abalos, head of the Intelligence Division of the Quezon City Police District, defended the local police investigators belonging to Task Force Ivler.

Abalos said the police investigators were able to trace the diplomatic plates of the car registered to British consultant Pollard, which led to the identification of Ivler and the police officers searched for witnesses who positively identified the suspect.

“If not for these pieces of evidence and the murder case that we filed, there would not have been a warrant of arrest,” he said. With Reinir Padua, Marvin Sy, Sandy Araneta