Son of ex-solon’s slain lover asks NBI to conduct probe

The son of former Quezon City Representative Nanette Castelo-Daza’s longtime lover on Monday asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a reinvestigation of his father’s death.

Noel Orate Jr., the son of Noel Orate Sr., told officials of the bureau’s death investigation division (DID) that he had his doubts about the evidence gathered by the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU).

He said that Daza’s son-in-law and Bulacan provincial board member Allan Robes should have been charged with murder.

The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office filed homicide charges on Monday against Robes, who claimed that he shot Orate Sr., the former congresswoman’s lover for 10 years, because the victim had threatened to shoot him, his wife who was seven months pregnant and Daza.

Robes told the police that the older Orate had barged into the Daza’s house on Friday night. He added that the victim, who was drunk, took them hostage in a desperate attempt to get his former lover to take him back.

“He [Orate Jr.] asked our unit to conduct a reinvestigation into the killing of his father because he said he felt the initial investigation of the local police [was] lacking,” NBI-DID head and lawyer Romulo Asis told the Inquirer.

Asis added that his unit had yet to obtain the proper authorization to look into the killing.

The QCPD, meanwhile, denied the Orate family’s claim that it had bungled the investigation.

“We followed all procedures. We did all we could, I believe we had all bases covered,” said Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, QCPD CIDU head.