EDITORIAL - A wrong move

A manhunt is now on for the three Regional Highway Patrol Group officials tagged in the ambush and killing of prominent Cebuano lawyer Noel Archival and his companions early this year.

This after Senior Superintendent Romualdo Iglesia, Senior Inspector Joselito Lerion, and Police Officer 1 Alex Bacani are found to be no longer confined at the holding section of Camp Crame's Highway Patrol Unit.

The three have been relieved and transferred to Camp Crame following the filing of the case against them. They were the prime suspects in the killing of Archival and two of his companions, who were ambushed while traveling back to Cebu City from a case hearing in Dumaguete City in February.

But when Regional Trial Court Judge Maximo Perez issued a warrant for their arrest, the three could no longer be located. Cebu City Councilor Nestor Archival, the brother of the slain lawyer, said they received information that Iglesia, Lerion, and Bacani are no longer in Camp Crame.

Even the National Bureau of Investigation is facing a blank wall as to the whereabouts of the suspects. NBI-7 Director Max Salvador said they have not yet received any confirmation from PNP HPU holding area chief whether the three policemen are still in Camp Crame.

Where have these three HPG officials gone? Have they left for an official business despite being only restricted to their headquarters? No one knows. These questions should be better left to their Camp Crame superiors to answer.

Since they are now out of sight, the public would tend to believe that they already have gone into hiding to evade detention now that the court has finally issued a warrant for their arrest.

Of course, they are still innocent until proven guilty by the court.   

But this development won't really help the three HPG officials in their defense. On the contrary, their running away only bolsters speculations about their culpability in one of Cebu's most sensational cases.    

If the HPG officials are serious in fighting the case, going into hiding is certainly a wrong move. Now, it seems, the prosecution has gained the upper hand.