Ramona on Interpol’s red notice list; passport revoked
The net is slowly tightening around Ma. Ramona “Mara” Bautista, one of the suspects in the killing of her brother Ramgen and the wounding of his girlfriend, Janelle Manahan.
One of Manahan’s lawyers told reporters Wednesday that the Interpol had placed Bautista on its red notice list based on a request they submitted in November.
“This is the closest thing to an international warrant of arrest. [The Turkish government] can arrest her if it so desires,” Argee Guevarra said.
At the same time, the judge in charge of the murder and frustrated murder case granted the prosecution’s request for the cancellation of Bautista’s passport.
In his order dated February 24, Judge Fortunito Madrona of the Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 said that this was one way of compelling Bautista to return to the country to face the charges against her.
Bautista fled to Turkey—where her husband is a resident—after the police arrested another brother, Ramon Joseph, or RJ, in connection with Ramgen’s death.
Guevarra showed reporters a printout of the Interpol’s website, which showed Bautista’s name on its red notice list. Below her name was that of Assaadi Gadhafi, the son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed last year.
He noted, however, that the Philippines has no extradition treaty with Turkey and called on President Aquino to ask the Turkish president to deport Mara.
“We feel that the government of Turkey can really cause her arrest if there is a government request from the Philippines,” Guevarra said.
Manahan and her lawyers said they were hoping to get an audience with the President by next week.
Sought for comment, Bautista’s mother, Genelyn Magsaysay, said it was wrong for her daughter to be included on the most-wanted list.
“This is wrong as Mara still has a petition for review of the murder and frustrated murder charges filed against her pending with the Department of Justice,” she said.
“For me, as a Filipino, it hurts to see another Filipino on the red notice list,” Magsaysay added.
Two other suspects in the case, Ramgen’s sister Gail and her husband, Takehiro Furuyama, denied they had a hand in his death in Wednesday’s preliminary investigation.
