Former Quezon City Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza
Was it a longtime romance gone sour that turned this political household into a crime scene?
It all started with a call from former Quezon City Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza on late Friday night, alerting police to what she called a “commotion” at her home in Barangay Teachers Village-East.
But as two patrolmen from the Anonas station were approaching the place at around 11 p.m., gunfire issued from inside the house at 51 Maningning Street.
Moments later, Daza’s son-in-law Allan Robes emerged from the bungalow, his hands up in the air and dropping a .38 caliber pistol to the ground.
Daza’s longtime boyfriend Noel Orate Sr., 55, was found dead inside the house.
The following day, Robes, 38, suspect in Orate’s killing, tested positive for gunpowder burns and was facing murder charges.
Robes is a Bulacan provincial board member and the husband of Daza’s daughter Jessica, who is currently a city councilor.
The couple lived with the longtime Quezon City politician who served as congresswoman of the city’s 4th District from 2001 to 2010, and earlier as councilor and barangay chair. Daza’s brother Winston “Winnie” Castelo is the current 2nd District representative.
Orate was described in police records as a manager at United Laboratories and resident of Barangay Central also in Quezon City.
Playing peacemaker
Sources close to the investigation and the family said Daza reportedly wanted to end her relationship with Orate that night and that Robes tried to act as a peacemaker between the two quarreling partners.
THE BODY of Noel Orate is carried out of the house of his longtime girlfriend, former Quezon City Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza, on Maningning Street, Teachers Village-East. ARNOLD ALMACEN
Earlier that night, Orate allegedly arrived at the Daza residence drunk and wielding a gun, the sources added.
“The suspect tried to intervene when things got tense between the congresswoman and her boyfriend,” one of the sources said.
“It seems to be a duel because we recovered another gun near the victim’s body,” Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit told reporters yesterday.
Initial police reports showed that a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol was found near Orate’s body, which Marcelo said was still “fully loaded” with 14 bullets.
The Kel-Tec pistol taken from Robes had five spent shells and two bullets.
Police said Orate suffered five gunshot wounds that killed him on the spot at the house’s receiving area. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, cycling shorts and slippers.
Marcelo said Daza was brought to an undisclosed hospital for an injured foot after the shooting.
Longtime relationship
A statement police obtained from Orate’s 28-year-old son and namesake said his father and Daza had been in a relationship since the younger Orate was a teenager.
Noel Orate Jr. said he was at work that Friday night at the UP AyalaLand Technohub when he got a phone call from Daza, telling him that “his father was gone.”
Meanwhile, Quezon City officials led by Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte visited Robes at the QC Police Department’s investigation office, where he was being detained as of yesterday afternoon.
Jessica, who according to Belmonte is currently pregnant, remained at her husband’s side as police prepared papers for his inquest proceedings.
SPO1 Joselito Gagaza, the case investigator, said he would have all members of the Daza household—including Nanette’s other brother Bobby and some helpers—subjected to paraffin tests.