Reward for Ivler's arrest raised to P1 million

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday the reward for the capture of 27-year-old Jason Aguilar Ivler, tagged in the murder of a son of Malacañang official, has been raised to P1 million.

In an interview at the NBI headquarters, NBI Special Action Unit chief Angelito Magno said they believe Ivler is still in the country.

Magno said the Office of the President contributed P500,000 to the P500,000 reward earlier offered by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

Ivler was charged with murder for the shooting of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr., who works in the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff, during a traffic altercation in Quezon City last Nov. 18.

Magno said there were several namesakes of Jason Aguilar who left the country after the Nov. 18 shooting.

“We verified if one of the persons bearing the name Jason Aguilar who left the country is the same Jason Aguilar Ivler that we are looking for but it turned out to be negative. They are not. They were namesakes,” Magno said.

Last Dec. 8, Ebarle Sr., appealed to Ivler to come out and answer the charges.

Ebarle Sr. visited NBI Director Nestor Mantaring to personally follow up the case regarding the death of his son, amid reports that Ivler has already left the country.

“There are published reports that Ivler had possibly left for New Zealand or United States. The NBI told me that there is no record in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) that he left the country,” he said. 

Poster boy

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Audie Arroyo said 6,000 posters bearing Ivler’s photo will be distributed to the five police districts of the NCRPO upon orders of Director Roberto Rosales.

Arroyo said that apart from offering a reward to anyone who could help the police arrest Ivler, the posters will also bear a warning that Ivler is “armed and dangerous.”

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego earlier said he believes Ivler still carries with him the handgun he allegedly used to kill Ebarle.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano, deputy head of the QCPD- Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the posters will be scattered at malls, markets, railway stations, bus terminals, the airport and seaports, night clubs and bars, expressways and major roads.

Ivler was traced through the diplomatic plate 20903 seen attached to the Honda CRV driven by the gunman in the killing. The plate number was assigned to Asian Development Bank executive Stephen Pollard, who is Ivler’s stepfather. Ivler was eventually identified by witnesses as the alleged gunman.

Elenzano said Rosales has formed tracker teams in each of the NCRPO’s police districts to go after Ivler, who remains on the loose almost a month after the killing.

QCPD policemen went to three houses in Blue Ridge A Subdivision, Quezon City Wednesday but still were not able to find Ivler. They were armed with an arrest warrant in connection with the reckless imprudence resulting in homicide case filed against Ivler for the death of presidential adviser Nestor Ponce during a traffic accident in 2004.

Murder charges have been filed against Ivler for Ebarle’s death but an arrest warrant has yet to be issued. Another complainant has come out, alleging that Ivler had threatened him with a gun in another traffic altercation, also in Quezon City, the night before Ebarle was shot dead.

Marlene Aguilar Pollard, mother of Ivler and sister of folk singer Freddie Aguilar, said she has no knowledge of her son’s whereabouts.

Aguilar, who was at 23 Hillside Drive in Blue Ridge A, told police that her son was being held by a “very influential group.”

Arroyo, who talked to the mother, said they would have to verify her claim, noting that the mother was “diverting us to other issues” whenever he tried to ask about her son’s whereabouts. – With Reinir Padua, Non Alquitran