Cebu fiscal urged to resolve slay raps vs 5 HPG officers

MANILA, Philippines - The family of a criminal lawyer slain in an ambush in Cebu last Feb. 18 has welcomed the filing of multiple murder and frustrated murder charges against five officers of the police Highway Patrol Group (HPG) by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Cebu City councilor Nestor Archival, brother of slain lawyer Noel Archival, said they consider the filing of the case as the first step in their crusade for justice.

“We are hoping that the Cebu prosecutor’s office will immediately resolve the case so that it can be filed in court,” he told journalists in Manila. 

Those charged by NBI Region 7 last April 15 were Senior Superintendents Romualdo Iglesia and Joselito Lerion, Chief Inspector Eduardo Mara, SPO4 Edwin Galan, PO1 Alex Bacani and several unidentified persons. 

They were also charged in a separate complaint for grave misconduct and violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas. 

The NBI filed the charges after they recovered the red Toyota Vios believed to be one of the vehicles used in the ambush in Dalaguete town, at the impounding compound of HPG-Region 7. 

The Cebuano lawyer, 52, who had handled high-profile criminal cases, was killed together with his aide, Edu Miñoza, and driver, Alejandro Jaime. He was heading back to Cebu City from Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental where he attended a court hearing when his Ford Escape was fired at with M-16 Armalite rifles.

The gunmen rode separate vehicles and flanked the lawyer’s car before firing shots.