The police finally filed charges against a Norwegian national and his Filipina girlfriend in connection with last week’s kidnapping and killing of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique in Minglanilla town.
In filing the case, Cebu Provincial Police Office director Erson Digal and three other police officers issued an affidavit based on testimonies of three children who tagged Sven Erik Berger and his Cebuana fiancée, Karen Castro Esdrelon, in the girl’s abduction.
Assistant provincial prosecutor Marvin de la Peña gave the suspects seven days to file their counter-affidavit in relation to the charges of kidnapping with homicide slapped against them.
The move of the police came amid rising doubts whether Berger and Esdrelon are the real suspects. Digal was reported to have been “morally convinced” of the alleged participation of the two in the crime.
Since their arrest at the airport where they were set to leave for Hong Kong to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Berger and Esdrelon maintained innocence of the crime, saying they did not leave Cebu City on the day Ellah Joy was abducted from Calajoan Elementary School.
In fact, their counsel, lawyer Salvador Solima, said at the time Ellah Joy was kidnapped in the afternoon of February 8, Berger and Esdrelon was at a Norwegian school. He also said the two stayed at a hotel in the city on that day, adding that they have certifications to prove.
If the police believed the Norwegian and his Cebuana girlfriend were the real suspects, it was their right to file the case against the two. But they must show solid evidence to build a strong case.
For the accused, they must show proof confirming their activities in Cebu City at the time Ellah Joy was abducted. Solima had already promised they have certifications that would prove their innocence.
Now, the case has already been filed. Let us leave all these things to the prosecutor’s office.