Driver: I saw Bella, Ian near Ellah Joy’s school

He was waiting for passengers when he saw a dark sports utility vehicle park near the Calajo-an Elementary School where 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique had just come out with her classmates.

Habal-habal driver Harem Puerto confirmed this to Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Veloso in the hearing yesterday of a motion for bail for the accused  Bella Ruby Santos.

Before the hearing started, a  bouquet of pink flowers was delivered by a messenger for Santos.

Santos received it and handed it to a supporter.

Her supporters said the flowers were  sent by Santos’  British boyfriend and co-accused Ian Charles Griffiths, who is in the United Kingdom.

In the hearing, Puerto alleged that Santos and Griffiths were present at the area where Ellah Joy was kidnapped over a year ago.

“I was sitting on a concrete structure near the Calajo-an barangay hall (in Minglanilla), waiting for passengers when I saw a dark SUV Pajero running slowly (towards the Calajo-an Elementary School),” Puerto told the court in Cebuano.

The 51-year-old Puerto was presented by lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, lead counsel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7), as their third witness.

Puerto said he saw a male “foreigner” driving the vehicle with a “Filipina” passenger.

“The Filipina was dark-skinned, had long hair and nose, and pretty,” Puerto said.

The foreigner, on the other hand, was “handsome, fair-skinned, and not so old,” he said.

When asked if the Filipina whom he saw near the Calajo-an Elementary School was present in the courtroom, Puerto pointed at Santos.

He identified the “foreigner” as Griffiths when shown eight photographs of different persons.

Puerto also identified the vehicle used by the couple through a photograph shown to him.

He said he could clearly see Santos and Griffiths because he was very close to the vehicle.

Puerto said he later learned about Ellah Joy’s kidnapping at 4 p.m. last Feb. 8, 2011, and that the suspects include a foreigner.

Puerto said he was brought by police to the Mactan Cebu International Airport where he was presented with the first set of suspects, Karen Esdrelon and Norwegian partner Sven-Erik Berger.

But Puerto said they were not the ones he saw in barangay Calajo-an last Feb. 8, 2011

On cross-examination by Bella’s lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo, Puerto admitted that he was earlier convicted on two separate illegal drug charges.  He said he already served his sentence.

Puerto also admitted that he has no driver’s license when driving the habal-habal motorcycle. Ellah Joy was kidnapped outside the Calajo-an Elementary School in Minglanilla town last Feb. 8, 2011.

Her body was found off a ravine in Barili town, south Cebu, the following day.  Police suspect Ellah Joy was a a target of a cyberpornography ring.

Santos, a Cebuana, and Griffiths were charged with kidnapping with homicide for Ellah Joy’s death.

Santos  was arrested in a mall in Metro Manila in October last year. Griffiths, an accountant, is believed to be in Great Britain.

He is placed on the “red alert list” of the Interpol as a fugitive wanted for prosecution in the Philippines. /Ador Vincent Mayol, Reporter