De Lima seeks Interpol help to find Ramona over brother Ramgen slay

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to get in touch with the Interpol to locate Ma. Ramona “Mara” Bautista, one of the suspects in the October 28 killing of her brother Ramgen Bautista (a.k.a. Ram Revilla).

De Lima also directed the NBI to see if the government could place Ramona on the Interpol’s red notice list to prevent her movement abroad even without an arrest warrant against her.

“I asked the NBI to double-check the rules on Interpol red notice list… if it’s possible to put someone on that list without yet an arrest warrant being issued versus him/her,” De Lima said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

She issued the directive after the media reported that Ramona flew to Istanbul, Turkey, via Hong Kong on Friday night. Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. said his half-sister Ramona, 22, was married to a Turkish national.

Like the victim’s half-brother, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., De Lima said Ramona’s flight to Turkey was an admission of guilt.

“That is always the presumption unless negated by a good explanation for such flight,” De Lima said.

“But the burden to prove otherwise falls on the suspect/respondent/accused concerned,” she added.

She said Ramona’s relatives “have a lot of explaining to do” regarding her flight abroad.

But Ramona’s mother, Genelyn Magsaysay, said her daughter left the country on her own.

“Para po sa kaliwanagan ng lahat (For the enlightenment of everybody), my daughter left the country on her own for fear of her life. It was a decision made by her and her alone as a mature, married woman. And I respect her decision,” she said, reading a prepared statement aired on television.

“Good enough she did not leave without shedding light on what transpired on that fateful day of October 28 of which she was a direct eyewitness to the brutal killing of my son and her brother Ramgen. And therefore, my daughter Ramona has the direct personal knowledge of the incident. She’s a state witness, not alleged brutal killer,” Magsaysay added.

Ramona was at the family’s house in Parañaque when Ramgen was stabbed to death last October 28. Ramgen’s girlfriend, Janelle Manahan, was also shot but she survived.

Ramgen’s younger brother, Ramon Joseph RJ, was later tagged by other suspects as the mastermind in the killing and was immediately arrested by the police while Ramona was charged in court as an accomplice to the  crime.

Originally posted at 03:03 pm | Sunday, November 06, 2011