Brother enters not guilty plea in Ramgen Bautista slay

MANILA, Philippines—Nearly three months after the death of Ramgen Bautista and the attack on his girlfriend, the actor’s brother and two other people were arraigned on murder and frustrated murder charges before the Parañaque Regional Trial Court Tuesday morning.

Bautista’s younger brother Ramon Joseph or RJ, Michael Nartea and Roy Francis Tolisora separately entered not guilty pleas after a court clerk informed them of the charges against them. The three are detained at the city jail.

Judge Fortunito Madrona of the Parañaque RTC Branch 274, meanwhile, ordered the arrest of four other accused–Bautista’s younger sister Ma. Ramona or Mara, Glaiza Visda, Norwin dela Cruz and Ryan Pastera.

A witness earlier claimed that Mara and RJ plotted the murder of their brother with the help of Pastera, Dela Cruz and Visda who were tasked to look for hired killers, including Nartea and Tolisora.

Madrona set bail for the four accused at P200,000 each in connection with the frustrated murder charge. No bail was set for the charge of murder.

He also said that he would soon resolve the motions filed by the lawyers of Mara and RJ.

Mara, who left the country for Turkey right after the death of her brother, had asked the court to determine whether there was probable cause in the filing of the charges against her. Her whereabouts remain unknown. RJ, on the other hand, had requested that he be allowed to post bail.

In a related development, Argee Guevarra, the lawyer of Bautista’s girlfriend Jannelle Manahan, asked the judge to order the National Bureau of Investigation to turn over Pastera to the court’s custody.

He noted that during the conduct of a preliminary investigation in December, Pastera was escorted by NBI agents when he went to the city prosecutor’s office.

Guevarra described the presence of NBI agents as “highly irregular” since it could be indicative that some bureau agents might be “grooming Pastera as the next Jessica Alfaro.”

He was referring to the star witness in the celebrated Vizconde massacre case, who was purportedly a fabricated witness that NBI agents rehearsed. Questions on the veracity of her testimony during the review of the case at the Supreme Court resulted into the reversal of the lower court’s verdict on the accused.

Guevarra challenged the NBI to produce Pastera because some of its agents have been seen having custody of the suspect.

Madrona directed City Prosecutor Apolinar Quetulio to verify with the NBI the information that they purportedly have custody of the accused before the court issued an order related to that. The judge said it would be reckless for the court to issue directives without verifying the information first.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Genelyn Magsaysay, mother of the Bautista siblings and three of her children attended the proceedings to support RJ, who appeared to be in high spirits. They gave each other a hug before jail guards whisked RJ back to the city jail.

Quetulio also noticed that it appeared no private prosecutor was representing the interest of Bautista when Madrona asked for the entry of appearances before the arraignment commenced.

Asked about how the prosecution would deal with Mara’s case, Guevarra said his co-counsel Restituto Mendoza was preparing the paperwork to seek for the cancellation of her passport, among the remedies that Manahan’s lawyers are taking.

A masked gunman barged into Bautista’s room on October 28, 2011, shooting Manahan first on her face before turning the gun on the eldest son of former Senator Ramon Revilla Sr. by Magsaysay.

Manahan claimed the attack was the second attempt on Bautista’s life. She alleged that her boyfriend’s family might have carried out the killing over personal matters, ranging from financial problems to physical abuse.