NETIZENS fear a hit-and-run driver may evade justice due to his father’s elite club memberships, despite police assurances that the investigation remains independent and fact-based.
Authorities are dismissing online speculation that hit-and-run suspect Sean Andrew Pajarillo will receive preferential treatment or be "smuggled" out of a Mandaue City hospital due to his family's social affiliations.
Public apprehension grew following reports that Pajarillo’s father is a member of the "Tiger Group"—a civilian community participating in the Highway Patrol Group’s (HPG) Executive Motorcycle Riding Course (EMRC)—and a local freemasonry chapter.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wildemar Tiu of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit (RHPU-7) clarified that these connections have no bearing on the case. “Those are just allegations that they have connections (naay kapit). HPG has nothing to do with the investigation,” Tiu told The Freeman. He emphasized that the EMRC is strictly for road safety training and does not offer legal protection to its members.
The incident occurred in the upscale Maria Luisa Village in Barangay Banilad. According to the Cebu City Traffic Enforcement Unit, Pajarillo first struck a parked Toyota Vios on Paseo Saturnino Road before fatally hitting entrepreneur Kingston Ralph Co Cheng along Paseo Rodolfo. Pajarillo continued to flee until his vehicle overturned several meters away inside the subdivision.
Controversy has also surrounded the suspect’s medical testing. While responders and investigators observed that Pajarillo appeared intoxicated at the scene, he tested negative for alcohol nearly 19 hours later. The delay occurred because attending doctors did not release him for testing immediately following his hospitalization for injuries sustained in the crash.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival admitted earlier that Pajarillo, when brought to the Cebu City Medical Center, was not actually tested for alcohol substance since the hospital does not have the equipment to perform it.
He said the doctor certifying the negative alcohol presence on Pajarillo was simply doing physical examination 19-hours after he was observed to be drunk.
SunStar Cebu reached out to local freemason groups, and confirmed the elder Pajarillo is not a member. Authorities maintain that the legal process will follow the facts of the case, regardless of the suspect's social or club affiliations.
Both Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival and the city police assured that investigation will be transparent.
SunStar tried to reach Pajarillo on his account of the incident but to no avail since he is currently under hospital arrest. (MVG)