CEBU, Philippines - After having able to successfully exonerate a couple wrongfully charged in the kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique, defense lawyer Salvador Solima offers his legal services to the family of the victim.
This even as he admitted that the new suspects of the crime have sent feelers to engage him as collaborating counsel.
Solima said he is available if the family of the victim needs another lawyer to help in the prosecution of the case later.
“Kahibawo ko pobre lang sila posible nga dili makakuha og takos nga abogado, pwede ko makahatag sa akong serbisyo,” Solima said.
But whether or not the possibility of his going over to the other side of the fence would be free, Solima did not make a categorical answer saying it would depend on the victim’s family.
He also told The Freeman somebody has communicated with him whom he believes to be connected with the owner of the vehicle that is currently in custody of the police because of suspicion that it was used in the abduction of Pique.
“Somebody called me possibly lawyer siguro na siya sa tag-iya sa sakyanan pero wa ko kahibaw kung unsa gyud iyang connection sa tag-iya. I was just referred by someone from Naga,” Solima said.
According to Solima, he was advised to coordinate with a Makati-based lawyer. He said he did not commit yet but admitted the possibility of him becoming a collaborating counsel for the defense.
In fact, even if he was not yet formally retained, Solima already acted like the defense counsel of his still unknown client by questioning the police search of the house in Barangay Inayagan, Naga City where the Pajero was found.
Solima said the search was illegal because the search warrant issued by the court only authorized the search of the vehicle and not the house. He likewise questioned the legality of the seizure of the vehicle because it does not allegedly match to the description given by the witnesses.
Solima was the lawyer of Norwegian national Sven Erik Berger and Cebuana nurse Karen Esdrelon who were previously charged for the alleged kidnapping and murder of Pique.
The couple was cleared by the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of the criminal complaint. Subsequently a new task force was formed by the Police Regional Office-7 to continue investigating the case.
The task force already includes the National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 and other law enforcement offices.
Task force spokesperson Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador yesterday said they now have in hand the photo of foreigner and his Filipina wife who are believed to be the real suspects.
Comendador said they have obtained the photo even before they implemented a search warrant in Naga last Friday that resulted to the recovery of the Pajero with tampered plate numbers and computer gadgets.
Comendador said they have presented the photos of the Caucasian-looking man and the Filipina together with other photos to the eyewitnesses for possible identification. He however refused to reveal the results.
According to Comendador, the Task Force is in custody of at least three persons who saw the vehicle before and during the time Pique was abducted in February 8. Another witness also saw the suspects threw Pique’s body off a cliff in Barili town in the morning of February 9, a day after Pique was abducted in Calajoan, Minglanilla.
Comendador said the bloodstains which were found in the vehicle will be submitted for DNA-testing to know if it was Pique’s blood. – with Niña G. Sumacot /FPL (FREEMAN)