Ivler pleads not guilty, to stay in hospital until recovery

MANILA, Philippines - Dressed in a white barong, clean-shaven and appearing in stark contrast to the armed man who shot at his captors last month, Jason Ivler faced a trial court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to the murder charges filed against him over a road rage incident last year.

Ivler appeared at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76 a few minutes before 2 p.m. yesterday on a gurney, accompanied by his family, amid a packed courtroom that included the camp of his alleged victim, Renato Victor Ebarle Jr.

After he entered a “not guilty” plea, Ivler returned to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center when attending physician Dr. Romeo Abary told the court the murder suspect still needed “special medical care.”

Abary told Judge Alexander Balut that Ivler still has an open wound and two “tension sutures.”

The Ebarle family’s lawyer, Romeo Alcantara, opposed this, saying Ivler’s continued stay at the hospital was “too much” and that doctors at a regular jail could be tapped if Ivler’s condition worsens.

But Ivler’s lawyer, Alexis Medina, said the “medical opinion of the doctors” at the QMMC should not be overruled.

Balut eventually ruled that Ivler would stay at the QMMC until such time that he fully recovers, eliciting both a sob and a sigh of relief from Ivler’s mother, Marlene Aguilar-Pollard.

In response, Alcantara told reporters he would file a motion for their camp to have their own private doctor examine Ivler. “We are afraid that the accused is just acting (sick),” he said.

Ivler is tagged in the killing of Ebarle Jr. – a son of Palace Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. -– during a road rage incident in Quezon City on Nov. 18, 2009.

After almost two months in hiding, he was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation last Jan. 18 right inside his mother’s house in Blue Ridge A Subdivision in Quezon City. A heavily armed Ivler shot it out with NBI agents and was injured in the process. He underwent surgery at the QMMC and has stayed there since.

NBI agents surrounded Ivler, handcuffed to a gurney, when he entered the courtroom.

The murder suspect showed signs of discomfort as he entered the courtroom, although it was unclear whether it was because of his medical condition, his legal predicament, the media attention he was getting or the fact that he was handcuffed.

He was momentarily brought to the staff room of the court, where his blood pressure was taken. An NBI agent said it was 140/90.

The elder Ebarle and his wife were not present at yesterday’s hearing. Alcantara said Ebarle Sr. still considers the situation as “very traumatic.”

“It’s still hard for him to see the accused,” the lawyer said.

Relatives and supporters of the Ebarle family arrived at the court wearing black shirts that said: “Justice for Victor Ebarle.”

In a statement, Ebarle Sr. said: “Our quest for justice will not be complete, and our relief from the great pain of loss will not be fully assuaged, unless and until all the persons who have concealed or otherwise deceived the authorities to conceal the whereabouts of the murderer are prosecuted for obstruction of justice.”

Aguilar-Pollard is also facing a case of obstruction of justice after being accused by the NBI of allegedly coddling her son.

The Ebarle family, particularly the victim’s father and aunt, Christina Mercado, appealed to the public not to be swayed by the “theatrics” of the suspect’s camp.

Mercado also said Ivler should not be given “preferential treatment” and just be released from the hospital.

Apart from his mother, Ivler was also accompanied by his stepfather, British economist Stephen Pollard and other relatives. Aguilar-Pollard kept on crying during her son’s court appearance. Ivler’s camp also expressed intention to file a petition for bail.

Balut set the preliminary conference on the case on Feb. 25 and the initial presentation of evidence on March 2.