Court issues warrants for Santos, Griffiths

The arrest warrant is out but where is homicide suspect Bella Ruby Santos?

That’s the question Task Force Ellah Joy is asking after a judge issued the arrest warrant for Santos and her British partner Ian Charles Griffiths yesterday.

No bail was set by Judge Ester Veloso of Regional Trial Court Branch 6.

The two are charged with the Feb. 8 kidnap and murder of 6-year-old pupil Ellah Joy Pique from Minglanilla town.

Cebu Daily News tried to call four mobile phone numbers of Santos but only got a signal that it was “unattended” or “out of the coverage area.”

“She is just in Cebu but she is maximizing her privacy,” said defense lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo.

Santos’ other lawyer Julius Caesar Entice said they filed a motion asking the court to recall the arrest warrant.

“We believe the evidence of the prosecution is not enough to establish probable cause,” he said.

Entice said it is up to the police to locate Santos since they were reportedly monitoring her whereabouts.

The court gave the police 10 days to arrest the accused.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7) got hold of the arrest warrant at 2:30 p.m. yesterday.

Ellah Joy’s father, Renante, challenged Santos to come out of hiding.

Griffiths is being monitored by authorities in Great Britain after being placed on house arrest in relation to the Ellah Joy case.

A government-to-government request would have to be made to have Griffiths brought back to the Philippines.

Villagonzalo said testimonies of prosecution witnesses were not credible.

“You will see the basis when we file (the motion to dismiss) this week,” he said.

The victim’s family is represented by three lawyers of the Children’s Legal Bureau (CLB), who asked the court to issue a hold-departure order against Santos.

The judge yesterday deferred hearing the motion filed by CLB after its lawyers failed to secure the authority of the state prosecutor in filing the pleading.

CLB lawyers also failed to attach a photo of Santos in their motion. A hearing on the motion for the issuance of a hold-departure order is scheduled today.

Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane appointed three prosecutors to lead the prosecution of the case with the assistance of the CLB.