Go after traffickers, lawyer tells task force

It’s a trafficking syndicate and not Bella Ruby Santos that kidnapped and murdered 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique, her lawyers said yesterday.

In a press statement, Santos lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo said a syndicate kidnapped the two brothers that witnessed Ellah Joy’s kidnapping.

“A human trafficking and child pornography syndicate operating in south Metro Cebu is targeting children attending Calajo-an Elementary School,” he said.

Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, Cebu provincial police chief, earlier reported that two unidentified men allegedly kidnapped the twin brothers who witnessed Ellah Joy’s kidnapping.

The brothers were reportedly returned home the following day with five kilos of rice and P100 each.

“Ellah Joy and the twin bothers attend the same school; in each case the child was given P100,” Villagonzalo said.

Ellah Joy was kidnapped by a couple believed to be Santos and her British partner Ian Charles Griffiths outside the Calajo-an Elementary School last Feb. 8.

Her remains were found off a ravine in barangay Sayaw, Barili town, the following day.

The girl’s belongings were later found in a village next to Sayaw.

Among the items recovered were two P50 bills, something which surprised Ellah Joy’s father Renante.

Renante said he didn’t give Ellah Joy any money that time.

Santos and Griffiths face charges of kidnapping with homicide in relation to Ellah Joy’s death.

But Villagonzalo said the police should find out who kidnapped Ellah Joy and the twin brothers.

He also asked the police to identify and charge the persons who reportedly threatened to kill Santos.

Ellah Joy’s father Renante earlier revealed that someone approached him and sought permission to kill Santos.

But Renante said he admonished the person, whose identity he refused to divulge, not to kill Santos and let her suffer in jail.

In response, lawyer Inocencio dela Serna of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7) said the kidnapping of the twin brothers is a “collateral issue.”

“I suggest that Bella’s lawyers put up a good defense since the prosecution has a very good case. They just want to divert the case away from her,” dela Cerna said. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol