NBI waiting for green light to transfer Ivler

MANILA, Philippines - Murder suspect Jason Ivler will be moved to the Quezon City Jail once his doctors give the go-signal, the National Bureau of Investigation said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said the Quezon City regional trial court has already issued a commitment order for Ivler.

“We are still awaiting the advice of the doctors for Ivler’s transfer,” he said.

Mantaring said the NBI will no longer be asked to secure Ivler when he is ordered to appear in court. NBI agents will only appear in court if they are ordered to testify, he added.

Ivler’s custody will be transferred to the Bureau of Jail Management and penology or to the Quezon City Police after doctors order his release from the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Mantaring said.

Angelito Magno, NBI-Special Action Unit (SAU) chief, told reporters the NBI will bring Ivler to court for arraignment on Feb. 16.

“We could place him on a wheelchair so he (Ivler) could attend,” he said.

“He needs to attend to his arraignment personally. He will be asked by the court if he is guilty or not guilty.”

Magno said once Ivler is arraigned, the court acquires jurisdiction over him.

“So even if he could not attend a hearing later on, the case will go on,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mantaring said the NBI has not yet ended the investigation of Ivler’s stepfather, Asian Development Bank consultant Stephen Pollard’s alleged involvement in trying to mislead authorities or trying to coddle him.

“I have not received the final official report of the SAU and the result of the investigation conducted on him,” he said. “I think the statement and the facts are still under evaluation by the agents of the Special Action Unit.”

Ivler was charged for the shooting to death of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., a son of a Malacañang official, during a traffic altercation on Nov. 18, 2009 last year.

In a related development, a Quezon City judge has inhibited himself from hearing the obstruction of justice case against Marlene Aguilar-Pollard, Ivler’s mother.

Judge Voltaire Agas of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 35 inhibited himself on grounds that he and Mitzell Arthur Magdaong, Aguilar-Pollard’s counsel, both belong to the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity at San Beda College. Agas said he has no personal interest in the case.

Assistant Prosecutor Ulric Badiola earlier filed the motion for Agas to inhibit himself “to dispel any suspicion or doubts.” During a hearing last Friday, Magdaong told the court that he would no longer object to the motion of Badiola.

Aguilar-Pollard is charged with obstruction of justice after her son was arrested in her house in Blue Ridge A Subdivision on Jan. 18. – Sandy Araneta, Reinir Padua