HPU student to
appear in Manila
court over fatal crash

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MANILA >> A Filipino-American student from Hawaii is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 7 on a charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide after his vehicle struck a car and killed a presidential adviser earlier this month, officials said Wednesday.

Jason Ivler, 23, was driving his sport utility vehicle in Manila about 5:30 a.m. Aug. 8 when it veered into the opposite lane into oncoming traffic, police said.

Ivler's vehicle collided with an SUV that was carrying President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's adviser Nestor Ponce Jr., who died instantly. His wife was injured in the accident.

Ivler, a junior majoring in psychology at Hawaii Pacific University, was released from a hospital after treatment, police investigator Alexander Galang said without explaining his injuries.

A cause for the accident has yet to be established, he said.

If found guilty, Ivler could face up to four years in prison.

Officials said Ivler has posted bail but has been barred from leaving the country while his case is pending.

According to a Manila newspaper, the Philippine Star, Ivler's mother Marlene said last week she fears for her son's life.

"My son's life is under threat, which was sent through e-mail to my husband," she said. Marlene, who is now married to an Asian Development Bank executive, is the sister of singer Freddie Aguilar.

The mother said Ivler's real father died in a car accident when her son was only 3 years old.

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