Jason Aguilar Ivler is subdued after briefly engaging National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in his room at the basement of his house in Blue Ridge Subdivision, Quezon City, last Monday. (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN)

Road rage murder suspect Jason Ivler, the subject of a massive manhunt during the past two months, was finally captured inside their house in Quezon City Monday morning after shooting it out with lawmen during which he and two arresting officers were wounded.

“Nag-ala Rambo siya (He ran amok like Rambo),” said lawyer Roel Lasala, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation Intelligence Unit, explaining the brief firefight between Ivler and the NBI operatives.

Lasala said they will file additional charges of resisting arrest against Ivler while his mother, Marlene Aguilar, will also be charged with obstruction of justice and harboring a criminal. Ivler’s mother, sister of singer Freddie Aguilar, previously claimed that her son had already left the country.

Ivler was reportedly armed with an M-16 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol with armor piercing bullets during the encounter.

Wounded during the operation were lawyer Angelito Magno, chief of the Special Action Unit, and Special Investigator Ana Lira Labao of the Office of Intelligence Services. NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said Magno and Labao are both out of danger. Labao is confined at the Manila Doctors Hospital due to shrapnel wound in the chest while Magno was taken to the Medical City in Pasig City for a grazed wound in the right thigh.

Ivler, who was tagged in the November 18 killing of Renato Ebarle Jr., son of a Malacanang undersecretary, was taken to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City with bullet wounds in the right shoulder and abdomen.

Dr. Fernando Lopez, head of the hospital’s surgical department, said two bullets passed through Ivler’s body. The one that hit the abdomen lacerated his spleen and ruptured his large intestine but the doctor said the suspect will likely survive after surgery.

Armed with a warrant of arrest for murder, some 50 NBI operatives swooped down on the house of Ivler at No. 23 Hillside Drive in Blueridge A Subdivision at around 6 a.m. Monday.

However, they were able to get inside the house only after more than an hour due to the protests of the suspect’s mother.

The NBI said two reliable informants tipped them that Ivler was in the house about two weeks ago.

“As the NBI operatives were about to enter one of the rooms, Marlene (Aguilar) got hysterical and the operatives knew that Ivler was there,” according to head agent Roland Argabioso of the Field Operations Division.

The agents were about to open a room in the basement when Ivler suddenly opened fire from the inside, hitting Magno and Labao. The agents were forced to fire back until Ivler was heard screaming in pain.

“He was half-naked and wore shorts. He is no longer sporting a skinhead. He has a moustache and beard. He has new tattoos on his most parts of the body. You can’t just recognize him,” Argabioso said.

British diplomat Stephen Pollard, Ivler’s stepfather, was not in the house when the government agents came.

The killing of Ebarle Jr. occurred at the corner of Boni Serrano and Granada Streets in Quezon City. Ebarle was shot by a man who was armed with a .45 caliber pistol after they figured in a near collision.

Malacañang praised law enforcement authorities for the arrest.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde also expressed hopes the arrest of Ivler would spur measures to deal with road rage and prevent similar fatal incidents in the future.

“The arrest of Ivler is a big personal relief to the Ebarle family and friends. The NBI and all those who helped in his arrest deserve high commendation. The arrest of Ivler should also hopefully help address the issue of road rage,” Remonde said.

Ebarle Sr., an undersecretary of the Office of the Presidential Chief Of Staff, said the arrest of Ivler was an answered prayer and thanked authorities for bringing to justice to his son’s death.

Ebarle, however, offered no sympathies for Aguilar who now faces investigation for obstruction of justice. He said Pollard and other relatives who knew about Ivler’s whereabouts should also be held accountable.

Aguilar has been placed under custody and brought to the NBI headquarters in Manila. (Reports from Jeamma E. Sabate, Rizal S. Obanil, Jeffrey G. Damicog, and Genalyn D. Kabiling)