MANILA - The owner of the car allegedly driven by a foreigner who purportedly shot to death a son of a Malacañang official has been traced to a British economist working for the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Quezon City police said Stephen Pollard, 50, a British economist working for the ADB, is the registered owner of a car with diplomatic plate 20903.

The alleged foreigner who was driving the car with diplomatic plate 20903 is a suspect in the killing of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. over a traffic altercation in Quezon City Wednesday night.

The victim is a son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle, who works for the Office of the Presidential chief of staff.

In a statement, ADB's external relations department director Ann Quon said they do not believe an ADB staff was involved in killing.
 
"This is a serious and tragic incident. Given that the matter is currently under police investigation, ADB is unable to make any comment on the issue. Based on the information available so far, we do not believe that ADB staff was involved in the incident," Quon said. 

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has gotten in touch with ADB officials, who told them that Pollard is willing to give a statement to the police possibly on Friday.

Police investigators said they are not yet sure if the person who shot Ebarle is a Filipino or a foreigner.

Ebarle died of three gunshot wounds in the body. He was found slumped on the driver's seat of his Toyota Land Cruiser along Boni Serrano Avenue in Quezon City.

Superintendent Ferdinand Ampil, chief of the Quezon City police's Station 7, said that based on the accounts of several witnesses, the gunman was a foreigner who was on board a blue wagon with diplomatic plate number 20903.

Ampil added that the gunman, described to be between 25 to 30 years old, has a tattoo on his right arm.

He said the foreigner got irked and shot Ebarle three times after a traffic altercation.

He said several people saw the gunman get off the blue wagon and shoot Ebarle three times through his vehicle's windshield.

Relatives said Ebarle had just left his girlfriend's home and was already on his way home when the incident happened.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) refused to comment on the liability of ADB officials or their children or relatives in such incidents, saying it's too premature. -- with a report from Doland Castro, ABS-CBN News