De Lima: No NBI files on death of Mercado live-in partner

MANILA, Philippines–There are no missing files because there are no files to begin with.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Friday said there were no missing files at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) pertaining to the death of the live-in partner of former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

“From what I gather from (NBI) Director [Virgilio] Mendez, there are no NBI files to talk about simply because no investigation was conducted by NBI relative to that 2002 death,” De Lima said.

The justice secretary made the assertion following a statement from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) urging De Lima to look into the missing files concerning the death of Raquel Ambrosio.

The case of Ambrosio, daughter of the late comedian Babalu, came up during a Senate hearing last month. Ambrosio was found dead inside a condominium unit owned by Mercado twelve years ago.

The Makati police ruled in 2002 that Ambrosio, who had a bullet wound in her stomach, committed suicide, but relatives doubted the findings and sought the help of the NBI.

De Lima, however, said the NBI did not conduct an investigation.

“So, if there was no investigation, there can be no files that may be said to be missing. To put it in another way, such files are inexistent. It is thus inaccurate, if not misleading, to allude to a disappeared NBI files,” De Lima said.

Mercado blew the whistle on the alleged corrupt activities involving Vice President Jejomar Binay. Mercado is currently under the government’s Witness Protection Program (WPP).

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