MANILA, Philippines—Janelle Manahan has a “very revealing” information that could lead to the identity of the killer of her boyfriend and actor Ramgen Bautista, according to her lawyer, Argee Guevarra.
Quoting from his conversations with Manahan, Guevarra said in an interview with the Radyo Inquirer on Tuesday, that Ramgen’s murder was the result of a “family feud” that went out of control. “I could outright say this is an inside job, plain and simple,” Guevarra said.
Manahan was released from the Asian Hospital on Tuesday after a month-long treatment for a gunshot wound in the face, which she sustained during the attack that killed Bautista, also known in show business as Ram Revilla.
On the night of October 28, a hooded man shot and stabbed Bautista inside his room in his family’s house in BF Homes, Parañaque. Manahan, who was also in the room, was shot in the face.
Bautista’s sister, Ramona, was in the room when the crime happened. She initially told police she was abducted by the assailant, and then dropped off near a mall hours later. Her statement contradicted those of the subdivision guards who saw her, and her brother Ramon Joseph (RJ), calmly leave the village minutes after Ramgen was killed.
At least two other suspects has named RJ, who is detained, as the “mastermind.”
Guevarra said Manahan has been recovering well, and will soon be ready to submit an affidavit that would debunk the “outright lies” given by Ramona, in a counter-affidavit supposedly sent from Turkey.
He said that Ramona, in her sworn statement, downplayed the “feud” among the Bautista siblings as simply over “who gets to use which car.”
But Manahan said “it was much deeper, that Ramgen’s siblings did something bad to him,” according to Guevarra.
In fact, it reached a point that Manahan herself was entangled in the feud because she sided with Ramgen.
Guevarra said he examined Ramona’s statement and found it “very damaging” to her other siblings.
“She (Ramona) practically pointed to Gail (another sister)and Gail’s husband, Hiro,” Guevarra said.
With this development, Guevarra appealed to former Senator Ramon Revilla Sr., and his erstwhile partner Genalyn Magsaysay, the parents of the victim and some of the suspects, to help in the investigation.
“A conspiracy was hatched to kill Ramgen. It is not right to have another conspiracy of silence and cover-up,”Guevarra said.
He said Manahan’s physical wounds have healed. “But she is still dealing with the emotional trauma,” he said.
According to Guevarra, Manahan has had dreams of Ramgen telling her “to continue the search for justice, pinpoint the killer.”
Manahan has applied for coverage under the witness protection program, Guevarra also said.