THE SUSPECT in the death of Jay Ryan Reblora, a car enthusiast who was first reported as an accident fatality early last year, now faces murder charges after the Court of Appeals granted the petition of the victim鈥檚 family to upgrade the case from homicide.
In a nine-page order, Justice Stephen Cruz of the CA鈥檚 5th Division said Las Pi帽as Regional Trial Court Judge Salvador Timbang Jr. committed grave abuse of discretion when he denied the motion filed by Reblora鈥檚 father who pressed for the graver charge.
Timbang was ordered to direct the city prosecutor鈥檚 office to amend the charges against the suspect, Jose Lito Monreal, in 鈥渙rder for it to conform with the body and material allegations in the information.鈥�
The Reblora family is insisting that 30-year-old Jay Ryan was the victim of a conspiracy allegedly involving his friends. Aside from Monreal, they want nine more persons charged, namely Albert Gerard Goco, Arthur Emil Guillen, John Daniel Ocampo, Ernest Lyle Lucido, Rocelino Danan, Philippe Michael Granada, Bea Labilles, Luisa Ysza de Real and Eden Manlapaz.
The victim and his friends were car aficionados known in Las Pi帽as as the BNB (Built Not Bought).
Monreal was driving Reblora鈥檚 car when it hit and killed the owner past midnight of Jan. 25, 2015, in Las Pi帽as. On the night of the incident, they were gathered on Plaza de Venicia Street, Barangay Talon Dos, in front of the house of Lucido who was then celebrating his birthday.
In their affidavits, the friends said Reblora鈥檚 death was an accident, maintaining that he 鈥渟uddenly jumped鈥� in the path of the oncoming car driven by Monreal. The vehicle was Reblora鈥檚 Toyota Corolla, which had been modified to run on a 5.2 turbo-charged engine.
The victim sustained fractures on the skull, arms and legs, as well as a laceration on a knee. The findings were mainly based on the report and photos submitted by the emergency responders that arrived at the scene.
But the victim鈥檚 family found something odd: The photos showed that Reblora died wearing only his shirt and underwear. In their petition, they offered an explanation why Reblora was found by the responders in that condition.
Victim may have been 鈥榖ullied鈥�
鈥淛ay may have been bullied and the (respondents) may have grabbed his board shorts and underwear,鈥� the petition said. 鈥�(They) held him and forced the shorts off his body (while) his briefs were stretched and deformed. Then they took his car keys and rode off. Jay, now naked and embarrassed, may have fought back or tried to give chase and recover his shorts in the middle of the street, or he may have been pushed鈥nd hit by his speeding car driven by Monreal.鈥�
The petition also noted that there were no 鈥渟kid marks鈥� at the site to indicate that Monreal suddenly stepped on the brakes to avoid hitting the victim. The family took this as a sign that the car 鈥渨as driven intentionally forward at a high speed.鈥�
The petition also quoted the victim鈥檚 brother John as saying that Reblora鈥檚 other clothes鈥攈is sweater, shorts and socks鈥�
were recovered near the 鈥減oint of collision, intact and without any tear despite the extreme damage to the car and Jay鈥檚 injuries.鈥�