Friends of British murder suspect Ian Charles Griffiths have raised P101,000 as a cash reward for anyone who can identify the culprits behind the Feb. 8 kidnap and killing of 6-year-old Ella Joy Pique.
“We can immediately release the reward money to someone who is not a corrupt source,” said Rameses Villagonzalo, Griffith’s lawyer in Cebu yesterday.
He showed the money bills to a GMA 7 television team.
The lawyer said Griffiths’ friends in the United Kingdom (UK) pitched in for the reward.
The announcement was an apparent attempt to counter a P50,000 bounty announced by the Cebu provincial police for information leading to the arrest of Griffith’s Cebuana girlfriend and co-accused Bella Ruby Santos.
The death of Ella Joy, a grade school pupil in Minglanilla town who was abducted as she was walking home from school with friends, has remained a mystery since she was last seen hitching a ride on a dark sports utility vehicle.
Griffiths’ lawyer said the Briton’s cash reward would go to the informant who could substantiate the defense of Griffiths and Santos, who insist they are innocent of charges of kidnapping with homicide, and must be willing to testify in court.
He said friends of Griffiths in the UK were monitoring the Cebu case .
Last month, the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office was notified by the the Metropolitan Police Service in the UK that police ended its investigation of Griffiths, who was released on bail after a brief arrest in April in relation to the child’s death. Meanwhile, Cebu Provincial Police Chief Patrocinio Comendador said Santos’ donation of five sacks of rice to barangay Carreta victims was just a gimmick to soften her image to the public. Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol with a report from Correspondent Gabriel C. Bonjoc