Ram Revilla Twitter photo
The girlfriend of the slain Ramgen Bautista saw only two other persons in his bedroom when they were attacked on the night of October 28: His sister Maria Ramona “Mara” Bautista and the male assailant who was wearing a Halloween mask.
Quoting from the eyewitness account of Janelle Manahan, Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran said the masked man repeatedly stabbed Ramgen, 23, until Mara, 22, shouted at him to stop.
Ramgen, the eldest of the nine children of former Senator Ramon Revilla Sr. by former actress Genelyn Magsaysay, was buried on November 2 at Angelus Eternal Garden in Imus, Cavite province. Manahan, 22, remains confined in a Muntinlupa City hospital but is now in stable condition.
Police investigators took Manahan’s initial statement on October 30 and additional details on October 31, according to Chief Inspector Enrique Sy of Task Force Ramgen.
Beltran, the chief of police of Parañaque City, spoke Thursday with Arlyn dela Cruz and her fellow anchor Jake Maderazo for the program “Taumbayan Naman” over dzXL 558khz.
This was how Beltran narrated the October 28 attack in the family residence in BF Homes Parañaque, as recounted by Manahan:
It was past 11 p.m. and the couple were preparing to sleep in Ramgen’s bedroom when a masked man entered.
The man immediately fired a gun, with two bullets hitting Manahan. Her boyfriend was also hit, but he tried to wrest the gun from the intruder.
At one point in the struggle, the assailant pulled out a knife and began stabbing Ramgen. His sister Mara then entered the room and repeatedly shouted, “Tama na (That’s enough)!”
The assailant stopped, rose and left the room.
Manahan told Mara to call for an ambulance. The latter left without saying a word.
More weight
Ramon Joseph “RJ” Bautista, 18, another of Ramgen’s siblings, has been tagged as the mastermind of the murder and is in police custody.
Mara is included in the charge sheet.
Manahan’s statement supports the “personal” motive angle on the murder, according to Task Force Ramgen’s Sy.
It carries more weight than, and shows the “inconsistencies” in, Mara’s own statement, Sy said.
The sister had initially told police that she was abducted by the attackers, put in a van that drove to an unknown destination, and abandoned on Zapote-Alabang Road in Las Piñas City.
“This appeared to be untrue when we compared it to the statement of the victim herself, Manahan, who saw what happened and survived the ordeal,” Sy said.
He said that hours after Mara gave her statement to the Las Piñas police early on October 29, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., a half-brother of the Bautista siblings, came to collect her and take her to a “medico legal.”
But Alde Pagulayan, the Revilla family’s spokesperson, said Mara was now with her own family and not in the senator’s custody.
‘Sino ka?’
Also quoting from Manahan’s statement, Sy provided additional details to the events that transpired on the night of October 28:
It was Manahan who responded when Mara knocked on the door of her brother’s bedroom to borrow a video camera. The sister left the door open and the assailant barged in, shooting first at Manahan who fell to the floor.
Ramgen ran to Manahan’s side, shouting at the assailant, “G-go ka, sino ka (You a–hole, who are you)?” and was also shot.
Manahan heard Mara repeatedly saying, ‘Tama na!” She told the sister to call RJ for help, but the latter was apparently not responding.
At this point, Manahan told Mara to call for an ambulance instead so they could take her boyfriend to the hospital.
“But she never came back,” Sy said.
A household assistant identified only as “Ronaldo,” as well as two security guards, saw RJ and Mara leave the subdivision gate, according to Sy. The gate is just 10 feet away from the Bautista residence.
Hitmen ‘not there’
Michael Jay Cruz Altea and Roy Francis Tolisoro, two confessed hitmen who had admitted knowledge of the plot to kill Ramgen, told Parañaque police that they were not in the house when the crime took place.
They said they had been hired to kill the target for P200,000 and made a failed attempt on October 12. They also said follow-up meetings were conducted on October 14 and 17.
Altea said he had received P19,000 as down payment but denied having carried out the job.
“Altea and Tolisoro admitted having held meetings and conducted surveillance, but they said they were not there on the night Ramgen was killed. That’s their claim,” Sy said in another interview.
In the radio interview, Beltran said the guards of BF Homes Parañaque and another witness saw Mara and RJ leaving their house and walking out of the subdivision.
“There are witnesses who will attest that they left the subdivision on foot,” Beltran said. “They are known to the guards because they are homeowners.”
Asked if it was possible that the masked assailant was RJ, Beltran replied: “We are not discounting the possibility that Ramon Joseph was the person wearing the mask.”
No reinvestigation
The Bautista-Revilla family, including Revilla Jr. and the siblings’ mother, Genelyn Magsaysay, has found it unbelievable that Mara and RJ could be involved in the murder of their brother.
Speaking with reporters after the Wednesday funeral of his half-brother, the senator called for a reinvestigation of the case.
But the investigators said Thursday that they were standing by the integrity of their report. They said they “followed procedures” and were “objective” in carrying out the arrests.
“There is no need for a reinvestigation. But we are open to further investigation, if needed,” said Chief Inspector Fergen Torred, head of the intelligence unit of the Parañaque police.
Added Sy: “We respect the request of the family and we will only have the reinvestigation if it is deemed necessary by the higher-ups. But there will be no release [of the arrested suspects] because we will await the resolution of the city prosecutor.”
Very sad, very sorry
Beltran said that while he felt sorry for the tragic turn in the lives of the Bautista-Revilla family, the statements and circumstantial evidence were pointing to a conspiracy between RJ and Mara and five others to kill Ramgen.
He said that he was standing by the result of the investigation conducted by the Parañaque police, and that the appreciation of the evidence and statements now rested with the City Prosecutor’s Office evaluating the case.
“We would like to [inform] the public that we’ve been very, very thorough [and] very, very careful [in] the investigation. We are in constant consultation with our superiors,” Beltran said, adding:
“I am very, very sad, very, very sorry, that this is the result of our investigation, and the family members were implicated. We are very sorry for them, and we realize how difficult this is for the family.”
Originally posted: 12:38 am | Friday, November 4th, 2011