Ram Revilla Twitter photo
Text messages found in the mobile phone of one of the suspects in the killing of Ramgen Bautista talk of a plot to kill him and warn the owner of the phone not to say anything to the police or something dire will happen to him.
The messages were found by the police on the phone seized from Roy Francis Tolisora, alias “Kiko,” according to a police affidavit submitted to the Parañaque City prosecutor’s office.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer was given a copy of the affidavit on condition that it omit the names of the senders of the text messages.
The senders of the text messages were among the suspects named in the murder and frustrated murder charges filed by the police in connection with the death of Ramgen and the wounding of his girlfriend, Janelle Manahan.
Tolisora is among the seven suspects named in the murder complaint. He was arrested on October 31 in San Dionisio village, Parañaque. Among those charged with him were the victim’s own siblings, Maria Ramona Magsaysay Bautista and Ramon Joseph Bautista.
According to the police affidavit, one of the text messages they found on Tolisora’s cell phone read: “’Pag oras na sumuka ka ng pangalan namin, pasensiyahan tayo (The moment you reveal our names, don’t blame us for what may happen to you).”
‘I have the gun’
In a separate message on October 30, two days after Ramgen was killed, another text sender said: “I have everything, including the gun.”
For the word “gun,” the sender used the colloquial term “boga.”
In another message, one of the senders told Tolisora to “li low” (sic) and to “not speak about the incident to avoid being tagged as suspects.”
Some of the messages recorded on Tolisora’s phone came from similar numbers. Other messages came from different numbers.
‘Kill him at home’
One message asked if Michael Jay Altea, alias “Mikel,” and Ruel Puzon, alias “Cacho” or “Chokat,” were the ones who killed Ramgen.
Altea is also in police custody. Puzon, who has said he was part of the group that allegedly planned to kill Ramgen but not part of the group that carried it out, has turned into a witness for the police.
One message, dated October 10, instructed Tolisora to kill Ramgen inside his home (“sa loob n’yo tirahin”).
Police investigators from Task Force Ramgen, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the last message pertained to an earlier failed attempt to kill Ramgen.
They declined further comment pending inquest of the suspects.
Night of the arrest
A check by the Inquirer of Bonifacio Street in the Parañaque neighborhood, where Tolisora—called “Kiko” in the area—lives and where he was arrested, revealed curious details.
A store owner named Liza said she saw how Tolisora was arrested.
Liza said it was almost 11 p.m., she was inside her store while Tolisora was on the sidewalk, seated near the gutter and using his cellular phone. A neighbor was seated beside him.
“He kept on texting as though he was waiting for someone,” Liza said, adding that Tolisora was busy with his phone when a white van drove up and policemen with long firearms got out and took him.
Silver car
Tolisora did not resist, Liza said. Neighbors who saw the arrest came out of their houses.
Half an hour later, a silver car, possibly a Toyota Vios, came. Liza said she knew the faces of the two people on board the silver car as Tolisora once told her of their names.
“I have seen them with Kiko. Once, they even hung around near my store and the girl was smoking a cigarette. That happened only recently,” Liza recalled.
She said it was the same car they used when going to Tolisora’s house, either to talk to him or pick him up.
Remembering a name
Liza described the woman passenger as a “morena” and said that it was the woman who asked the neighbors, after Tolisora was arrested, where he was.
When told that policemen had picked him up, the woman did not say a word and she and the driver left immediately.
Liza said she remembered the name of the woman in the silver car.
Speaking in Filipino, Liza said: “Glaiza is her name. I know because I asked Kiko who she was when she, he and a mestizo-like man with a tattoo on his shoulder stopped by our store.”
Liza said she could not remember the man’s name. “But I remember Kiko saying the woman’s name was Glaiza. He said they were his friends who live at BF Homes.”
One of the people police have listed as suspects in the murder case is someone named Glaiza Vista.
Wrong crowd
Tolisora is apparently popular in the neighborhood.
One male neighbor said, “Bumibibiyahe ’yan, pero hindi naman magulo, mabait naman. Gumagamit pero wala naman kaming alam na kinasangkutang gulo (He uses drugs but he is not troublesome. We don’t know of any trouble he has been in).”
A relative of Tolisora said: “He got into a wrong crowd and that’s how he developed his vice.”
Another suspect in the case, Altea, lives in a depressed urban area on Malunggay Street in Tambo, Parañaque.
Altea has also been picked up the police. He was in his house sleeping when the police came, according to his wife.
Drug users
Major Ferjen Torred, chief of intelligence of the Parañaque police, said the common denominator among the suspects appeared to be that they were into illegal drugs or that they were known in their areas as drug users.
“Drugs are the common denominators of the suspects,” Torred claimed.
Four other suspects mentioned in the police information sheet are still at large.