Slain lawyer helpful, a provider

CEBU, Philippines - A good provider and a helpful neighbor.

This was how slain lawyer Noel Archival was described by those close to him, one of whom is The Freeman reporter Flor Perolina.

“As a neighbor, tanan dinhi sa amoa walay silingan nga wala natabangi be it financial, legal. Personally manggihatagon. Naay kaugalingon nga foundation sa family. Calamities ming distribute. Manggihatagon. Good family provider (As a neighbor, he was very generous. He was willing to give financial help or share his knowledge about the law. He formed a foundation. He distributed goods during calamities. He was good provider to his family),” Perolina said.

Last Sunday, Archival and his wife Ellen attended a marathon organized by a mall in Cebu City to support their children who are into sports.

Perolina said their families had planned on going to Hong Kong together for a vacation. This plan may no longer push through.

Born on November 20, 1962, Archival is the younger brother of Cebu City Councilor and eco- warrior Nestor Archival. He was the third child in a brood of four.

Archival graduated college at the University of San Jose Recoletos and earned his law degree from Southwestern University.

He had practiced law for 21 years and earned a name because of the controversial cases he had handled, the most recent of which is the parricide case involving Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) supreme leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. in 2012.

Ecleo has a standing warrant of arrest for killing his wife Alona whose body was found down a deep ravine in Dalaguete town many years ago.

Incidentally, it was in Dalaguete where Archival was killed in an ambush along the coastal barangay of Coro yesterday afternoon. He was on his way to Cebu City from a hearing in Dumaguete City for a robbery case.

Perolina said Ellen had told her she was always telling her husband to be extra careful but Archival always told her not to worry.

Perolina said she was the one who called Ellen and informed her about the ambush.

At the time it was confirmed Archival was killed, Ellen was just fetching their three children from school.

Archival left five kids, three girls and two boys, ages 12, 11, 10, four and three.

“There was no premonition of sorts. He left their house at past 3 a.m. yesterday for the hearing in Dumaguete. Last night, he finished entertaining visitors – a cop and a woman – at around 10:30 p.m. While heading back to Cebu City yesterday, he was still texting with his wife but his responses to her messages were always ‘K’. At around 1:30, he was still able to speak with his brother in law… and then the ambush,” Perolina said.

Archival was supposed to go to Mindanao for a hearing of a case he was handling there.

After Archival’s death was confirmed, the family, through Councilor Nestor Archival, decided not to entertain interviews from the media.   (FREEMAN)