MANILA, Philippines?Is the man who shot dead Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. in Quezon City on Wednesday related to Stephen Pollard, a principal economist at the Asian Development Bank?

Foreign Affairs spokesman Ed Malaya on Friday said there was "no finding yet by the police that the individual to whom diplomatic plate number 20903 was issued was indeed in the car at the time of the alleged shooting."

"The issue relating to said individual's entitlement to diplomatic immunity, if any, and its scope is therefore, not yet relevant at this time," Malaya said in a statement.

According to Malaya, "the car could have been driven by another person at that time."

"This being a serious criminal matter, we should give the police sufficient time to conduct a full and thorough investigation," he said.

Rafael Seguis, DFA undersecretary for special concerns, meanwhile told the INQUIRER "family members of diplomats, defined to consist of spouse and minor dependent children, enjoy immunity (from suits) as the principal."

"Provided they are not nationals of the receiving state," Seguis said.

Malaya hinted they had checked the diplomatic accreditation of Pollard's family members. But he declined to provide details.

But he assured "DFA officials have answered fully on the basis of available records the queries made by police authorities when they visited the protocol office Thursday afternoon."

In a related development, the ADB declined to comment on the case, noting "the matter is currently under police investigation."

"Based on the information available so far, we do not believe that ADB staff was involved in the incident," said Ann Quon, principal director of the ADB's external relations department.

The British embassy in Manila said Pollard is not a British diplomat.

"Nobody at the British embassy has been involved in any violent road rage incident," said Colin Crorkin, the embassy's deputy chief of mission.