A certain ‘Mark’ spiked Dacera’s liquor — respondent

MANILA, Philippines — One of the revelers in the New Year’s Day house party attended by flight attendant Christine Dacera had popped an unknown substance in her drink, a respondent in the suspected rape-slay case said Thursday.

At a press briefing with reporters, Rommel Galido, who was with Dacera inside Room 2209 of City Garden Grand Hotel, said the victim told him about how a certain Mark placed something in her drink.

“Noong gabing iyon, tumabi siya [Dacera] sa’kin, sabi niya ‘Sis, parang I feel something na naiiba yung pakiramdam ko, I think mayroong naglagay sa drink,’ sabi niya sa’kin. Then sabi ko, ‘Who?’ then sabi niya sakin, ‘I think Mark,’” Galido narrated.

(That night, Dacera went to my side saying that she suddenly felt funny. She told me that someone might have put something in my drink. When I asked her who did, she claimed, “I think Mark.”)

Galido was referring to “Mark Anthony Rosales,” who was also named one of the 11 respondents in the rape with homicide provisional charge before the Makati prosecutor’s office. The city prosecutor tossed the complaint back to police for further investigation.

Galido claimed that when Dacera mentioned the incident to her, he thought that Dacera was out of her mind so he downplayed her statement and went back to sleep.

Rosales has yet to present himself before the public following Dacera’s death and amid the threats of police to come after the “suspects.”

Dacera’s family and legal counsel maintained that drugs were used on Dacera moments before she was pronounced dead on arrival at Makati Medical Center.

But Galido and fellow respondents Clark Rapinan, JP dela Serna, and Valentine Rosales, who were all present in the press conference, denied that they used drugs during their New Year’s Day celebration.

Meanwhile, Valentine disclosed that 11 of them, including Dacera, visited another room, Room 2207 to play party games with other friends as they waited for the New Year’s Day.

Valentine maintained that the people at Room 2207 were all members of LGBT society.

“I did not see any straight guys there (at 2207),” he said during the same press conference.

EDV