Jason Ivler in hot water; what about his mother?

After two months of hiding, fugitive Jason Ivler has finally been apprehended by NBI operatives.

Ivler is suspected to be involved in two separate incidents on the road, one leading to reckless imprudence resulting to homicide (2004) and the other leading to murder (2009).

With the arrest of Ivler, authorities score some brownie points, showing that not everyone can get away from the (long?) arm of the law.

Ivler was not as cooperative though. He seemed to have tapped into his inner Scarface, firing upon the arresting officers, injuring two in the process.

Jason Ivler Ivler is dead meat for sure. What about his mother Marlene Pollard, who said that her son was in Hawaii when weeks later her son was found in her very own home?

P.D. 1829 deals with crimes relating to obstruction of justice, the pertinent provisions of which are:

Section 1. The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by committing any of the following acts: xxx

(c) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction; xxx

(i) giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or property of the victim; or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by investigating authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication and publishing or disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or to the court. Ms Pollard can take refuge in the fact that there is a seeming inconsistency between par (c) and Art. 20 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC). The RPC exempts from criminal liability any person who harbors or conceals a descendant who is a principal of a crime.

Since P.D 1829 did not expressly repeal the RPC provision, Ms Pollard can argue that RPC will apply in this case (since it is favorable to her, the accused).

She will have a harder time as to par (i) of P.D. 1829. What is undeniable is that she gave a statement in December that her son was in Hawaii. That may or may not be true at the time she said it. But if it's not, I cannot see how she can escape an unfavorable verdict.


Photo: State Library of New South Wales collection, Flickr, The Commons