Barrameda family to seek OSG action on suspension of Ruby Rose slay trial

MANILA, Philippines — The family of Ruby Rose Barrameda, whose dead body was found stuffed inside a steel case off the waters of Navotas in June 2009, is so far still studying what legal action to take after the Court of Appeals ordered the indefinite suspension of hearings on the murder case filed by her parents.

Franklin Sunga, private lawyer for actress Rochelle Barrameda-Labarda, Barrameda’s sister, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he would confer with the actress and representatives from the Office of the Solicitor General prosecuting the case to clarify their stand on the matter.

“Let’s see what the opinion of the OSG is,” Sunga said.

On Feb. 6, the Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction stopping hearings at Branch 170 of the Malabon Regional Trial Court pending the resolution of a petition filed by Manuel Jimenez Jr., Barrameda’s father-in-law and one of the principals accused.

In his petition, Jimenez sought the inhibition of Branch 170 Judge Zaldy Docena from the case, because of the fact that, among others, the head prosecutor, Theodore Te, was his classmate at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Jimenez also alleged that Docena committed grave abuse of discretion when he granted the petition filed by another accused, Manuel Montero, to be discharged as state witness.

According to Sunga, while it was an option to elevate the matter of the issuance of the preliminary injunction to the Supreme Court, the pros and cons of this act should be studied carefully first.

“This is because another course of action would be to wait for the resolution of the (petition for inhibition) first, then go to the Supreme Court (if the result is not favorable to us),” Sunga explained.

In a related development, Barrameda-Labarda in an interview slammed the appellate court’s recent ruling, saying that the grounds for the issuance were “flimsy” and “superficial.”

“Why are (people) zeroing in on us? The judge also has connections with the other camp,” she told the Inquirer.

She said that Jimenez was a member of the same fraternity Docena was associated with at Ateneo Law School.

This relationship, according to Barrameda-Labarda, “had more weight” than the judge’s relationship with Te.

“We should be the ones alarmed then. But we have seen that the judge has been fair enough for both parties,” she explained.

“We are clearly victims of injustice,” the former beauty queen added.