The girlfriend of slain actor Ramgen Bautista on Monday sought protection from the Department of Justice (DoJ) after she implicated another sister of the victim in his killing.
Accompanied by her lawyers, Janelle Manahan went to the DoJ to personally submit to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima her application for her inclusion in the government’s Witness Protection Protection (WPP).
“I think the response (of the DoJ) will be positive,” Manahan told reporters before she was whisked away by her lawyers.
“I’m okay. I’m recovering well,” she said in response to questions about her health.
Wearing sunglasses, Manahan spoke softly, apparently still feeling the effects of the injury she sustained after she was shot in the face.
She was with Bautista at his family’s house in BF Homes, Parañaque City when a lone gunman barged into his room and shot them on the night of October 28.
Manahan survived the attack, but her boyfriend died after he was shot and stabbed several times.
Argee Guevarra, one of Manahan’s lawyers, declined to provide details of her application to enter the WPP although he stressed the need for the government to provide her protection from possible attempts on her life.
He said his client had also asked De Lima to immediately issue a watchlist order against Bautista’s sister, Gail Bautista-Furuyama, and her husband Hiro Furuyama.
According to Guevarra, Manahan feared that the Furuyamas might try to leave the country to avoid prosecution after she implicated them in the attack on her and her boyfriend.
Aside from the Furuyamas, witnesses have also linked Bautista’s other siblings, Ma. Ramona and Ramon Joseph, to his death.
Ramon Joseph was arrested a few days after the killing while Ma. Ramona left the country and has yet to return.