British Embassy offers aid for Ellah Joy case

The British Embassy in Manila assured its support in the ongoing investigation into the Ellah Joy kidnap-murder case.

The embassy’s deputy head of mission, Trevor Lewis told local media that his government will cooperate with the Capitol in the arrest of British national Ian Charles Griffiths, a suspect in the case.

“That’s why I came down here to express to (Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia) that we will work closely with them and the local authorities,” he said.

Lewis also met with Provincial Prosecutor Jane Petralba and prosecutors of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Region 7.

Petralba said they wanted to ask Lewis about the legal processes followed by the British government in the arrest of their citizens.

For her part, Asst. Regional Prosecutor Llena Ipong-Avila said two of six witnesses decided not to stay at the safe house of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

She said the witnesses are content with receiving monthly allowances from the DOJ’s Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program.

Avila said they tried to convince them to stay in the safe house to no avail.

She said their office granted the application for witness protection of the six witnesses.

Two witnesses are presently admitted to the DOJ safe house, while two others  decided to stay in their homes while receiving allowances from the government.

In a phone interview, lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna of Task Force Ellah Joy dismissed insinuations that the witnesses are just after the allowances from the DOJ.

“We believe in the quality of the our witnesses. There is no truth to the insinuations,” Dela told Cebu Daily News.

One of the witnesses earlier claimed to have been offered P500,000 to recant the statements against Griffiths and his Cebuana partner Bella Ruby Santos.

Three other “vital  witnesses” were also approached with bribe offers.

All these witnesses have not executed an affidavit regarding the bribery attempts.

The six witnesses are admitted under the government’s “provisional coverage,” which means they will be secured for at least three months by the DOJ.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will have the final say on whether or not the witnesses will receive protection beyond the three-month period.

Avila said the witnesses under the DOJ’s “provisional coverage” can receive “travelling expenses, subsistence allowance, and security protection” when they testify in court.

The Task Force Ellah Joy has 15 witnesses against Santos and Griffiths who are facing charges of kidnapping with homicide in court.

Ellah Joy was kidnapped by a couple suspected to be Santos and Griffiths outside her school in barangay Calajoan, Minglanilla town, last Feb. 8.

Her body was found at the bottom of a cliff near Sayaw Beach in Barili town the next day.

CIDG chief Samuel Pagdilao refuted rumors that Santos had a mole in their regional office that helped her avoid arrest.

Pagdilao, who visited Cebu yesterday, said such reports were “intrigues.”

Earlier Reynante Pique, Ellah Joy’s father, claimed that Santos has a spy at the CIDG-7.

Santos was arrested in a mall in Manila by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation. With a report from Correspondent Chito Aragon