Warrant out for suspect in car enthusiast’s slay

MONREAL

A WARRANT of arrest has been issued against the driver of a vehicle that ran over a car enthusiast whose death last year had earlier been reported as an accident.

The alias warrant against Jose Lito Monreal II, a resident of BF Resort Village, Talon 2, was issued on April 28 by Judge Phoeve Meer of the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 275.

The warrant stemmed from the murder charge filed against Monreal in connection with the death of Jay Ryan Reblora past midnight of Jan. 25, 2015 in Las Piñas.

Reblora, his family argued, had been bullied and deliberately hit by his own car with Monreal behind the wheel. The killing happened as the victim, the suspect and their other friends were gathered on Plaza de Venicia Street, Barangay Talon Dos, while in a birthday celebration.

According to case records, the murder charge was upgraded from the homicide complaint filed with Judge Salvador Timbang of Branch 253  based on the resolution of Assistant City Prosecutor Michaela Matammu-Sion.

“When I came in in September (last year), I moved for the upgrade but the judge denied this. We elevated this to the Court of Appeals which ruled in our favor,” Rodeo Nuñez Jr., the Reblora family’s lawyer, told the Inquirer.

Nuñez said Timbang inhibited himself from the case after the appellate court decision, resulting in the case being re-raffled and ending in the sala of Meer who approved of  the upgrading of the charge.

According to Nuñez, an alias warrant, unlike a warrant of arrest which lasts just 10 days, remains valid for an indefinite period of time.

“The court already declared flight on the part of the accused,” he said.

Robert Reblora, the victim’s father, said that so far, they had no information about the whereabouts of Monreal, adding that he planned to file charges against other suspects.

“We are praying that the court will render justice for the death of our son,” he said.