MANILA, Philippines—The Regional Trial Court in Las Piñas has denied the motion of the parents of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez to allow her two children to visit her wake.

Judge Gloria Aglugub of the Las Piñas RTC Branch 254 released a resolution Tuesday rejecting the motion, saying that the children were not willing to visit the wake.

Victor Lladoc, Roberto and Asuncion Barrameda’s lawyer, said Aglugub had a private talk with the eldest daughter, 9, over the phone before issuing the resolution at 6 p.m., several hours before the scheduled burial of Ruby Rose.

Asuncion, mother of Ruby Rose, said she was angry at and disappointed by the court’s decision.

“You all know how my daughter was killed, and now the sympathy of the judge still goes for them,” she said.

Ruby Rose’s remains were found last week stuffed in a steel drum that was filled with concrete and encased in a welded steel box in murky waters about 1.8 kilometers off Navotas port. She had been strangled to death.

The Barramedas filed a motion on Monday in the office of the judge handling the child custody dispute between Ruby Rose and her estranged husband Manuel Jimenez III.

Burial on Wednesday

The family has rescheduled the burial for Wednesday to wait for the children’s visit.

“We were expecting that the judge would rule in our favor. That’s why we patiently waited outside the court,” said Asuncion, accompanied by her husband Roberto and members of the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption.

But the family could do nothing but recognize the judge’s decision, she said.

Despite the court resolution, the Barramedas will push through with today’s burial.

“Ruby Rose has suffered so much. We want to lay her to rest (today),” actress Rochelle Barrameda, the victim’s elder sister, told reporters at a press conference at the wake on Tuesday morning.

Disappeared

Ruby Rose disappeared two days before a hearing of the custody case on March 16, 2007, when she was supposed to appear in court for cross-examination, according to Aglugub.

A suspect turned state-witness pointed to the victim’s in-laws as the prime suspects in the killing.

Murder charges were filed last week against Manuel Jimenez Jr., Lope Jimenez (owner of Buena Suerte Jimenez Fishing and Trading Corp.), Eric Fernandez, Spike Discalzo, Roberto Ponce, Rudy dela Cruz and Manuel Montero.

Marked with an X

At the wake, Rochelle was wearing a white shirt with “Justice for Ruby Rose Jimenez” printed on it. The surname Jimenez was marked with an “X.”

“In the past few days, we have been appealing to the Jimenezes to give us at least a bit of sympathy,” she said.

“But Tuesday came, and still [the kids] have yet to see at least their mother’s casket and last pictures,” she said.

Emissary

Gabriela party-list Rep. Liza Maza, who was asked to be an emissary to the Jimenezes, said Manuel III’s lawyer had told her the eldest daughter refused to attend the wake.

Maza said, however, that the father must have a say in the child’s decision. “Parents must give advice which the children would not regret when they grow up,” she said.

Rochelle said that if Manuel III was really allowing the children to visit the wake, the two would not decide otherwise.

Afraid

Rochelle claimed that the father was telling the eldest daughter that he and his father would be arrested if they appeared at the wake.

“Of course, the girl will be afraid. Is that the right way to speak to the kids,” she said.

Emy de Jesus, secretary general of Gabriela, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that her group had handled at least six custody cases in which the judge sided with the father.

“Because the father is the family’s provider, most judges think that it was best to give the (custodial right to) the father instead of the mother,” De Jesus said.

She said that in such cases the court itself was disregarding the law.

Family Code

Gabriela was referring to a provision in the Family Code which states that no mother should be separated from her children below 7 years old unless there are compelling reasons to rule otherwise.

When Aglugub was hearing the custody case, Ruby Rose’s two daughters were then 4 months old and 7 years old.

De Jesus said courts would usually say that the mother left the children so the father would have custody.

“But we must ask why those women left. Most of them were battered emotionally and physically. That’s the same case with Ruby Rose,” she said.

The parents of Ruby Rose earlier said that they would continue seeking the custody of the two children and would watch closely the murder charges against the Jimenezes.