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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
A witness to the murder of Ruby
Rose Barrameda-Jimenez has directly linked the victim’s estranged
husband, Manuel “Third” Jimenez 3rd, to the gruesome crime.
In a supplemental affidavit
submit to the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Friday, Manuel Montero
also disclosed that Third’s uncle, Lope Jimenez, the owner of
Buena Suerte Jimenez (BSJ) Fishing and Trading Co., even ordered the
perpetrators to rape Ruby Rose before her murder.
“Gusto pang ipa-rape ni Mr.
Lope Jimenez si Ruby Rose kay Spyke [Discalzo], Eric [Fernandez] at
Obet [de la Cruz] pero hindi ako pumayag at nakiusap na lang ako kay
Lope Jimenez na huwag naman dahil asawa siya ng pamangkin niya na si
Manuel Jimenez 3rd [Mr. Lope Jimenez wanted Ruby Rose raped by Spyke,
Eric and Obet but I didn’t permit it because she was the wife of
her nephew Manuel],” Montero claimed.
Lope is the younger brother of
lawyer Manuel Jimenez Jr., the father of Jimenez 3rd.
Montero, Lope Jimenez, Jimenez
Jr., Discalzo, Fernandez, de la Cruz and Robert Ponce are all prime
suspects in the murder. Montero has since turned state witness.
The suspects were charged with
murder by the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) after
police found this month the body of Ruby Rose stuffed inside a
cemented steel case off the Navotas Fish Port in Navotas, Metro
Manila. She was reported missing in 2007.
Montero, in his six-page
affidavit, identified Jimenez as one of the masterminds.
He said that on March 15, 2007, a
day after they killed Ruby Rose, he heard Discalzo talking with
someone on his cellular phone, who he latter identified as
“Third,” referring to Jimenez 3rd.
According to Montero, Discalzo
told him that the young Jimenez was asking about the details on how
they killed Ruby Rose and they would be given bonuses for their job.
“Sir, uuwi muna po ako sa
Bataan para maghatid ng pera. Nagawa na po namin ang pinatratrabaho
ninyo, kagabi lang, ayos na po ang problema ninyo . . . [Sir, I
first went home to Bataan to deliver the money. We did what you
wanted done, just last night, your problem has been taken care of .
. .],” Montero quoted Discalzo as saying.
The state witness said that
he—along with Lope Jimenez, Discalzo, Fernandez and de la
Cruz—had a meeting at the conference room of the BCJ in Navotas
shortly after the murder.
According to him, Lope during the
meeting called his brother Manuel Jr. informing the latter that Ruby
Rose had been liquidated.
“Kuya, lahat ng iniutos mo
patungkol kay Ruby Rose ay naisagawa at tapos na [Brother, all your
orders about Ruby Rose have been done],” Montero quoted Lope as
saying.
Lawyer Mario Aguinaldo, counsel
for the Jimenez clan, said that that they are getting the services
of an independent forensic expert to study the findings of the
police.
“We will be hiring our own
forensic experts to study all the evidence, especially those
submitted by forensic experts from the Philippine National
Police,” he told the three-man panel prosecutors headed by Senior
State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva during yesterday’s
preliminary investigation.
Aguinaldo also asked the panel
for 15 more days to file his client’s counter-affidavit. The
counsels for the other respondents also asked for the same period.
NCRPO operatives assigned to the
case, along with the dentist who examined the dentures of Ruby Rose
and the doctor who performed the autopsy, were also present during
the hearing. They submitted their findings to the panel.
Ruby Rose went missing in 2007.
Authorities were able to locate her body on a tip from an informant,
who turned out to be Montero.
The victim’s sister, former
beauty queen and actress Rochelle Barrameda, has confirmed that the
body was that of her sister based on the earrings and the clothes
recovered.
Prior to her sister’s
disappearance, Rochelle said that Ruby Rose had confessed to having
marital problems and that her husband even allegedly threatened to
kill her.
When asked on the possible
motives of the suspects, Rochelle said that it is highly possible
that her sister knew too much about the illegal activities of the
Jimenez family, which, include, among others, alleged execution of
several personalities and oil smuggling.
Records show that the
Jimenez-owned BSJ trading company in Navotas had been raided by the
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Intelligence Division
and the National Bureau of Investigation for alleged oil smuggling.
The trading firm is also under
investigation by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for allegedly
“engaging in the unauthorized blending of bio-diesel with the
intention of selling the same to outside customers engaged in
selling fuel products,” depriving the government billions of pesos
in excise taxes.
The Jimenez family has denied the
allegations, saying that they operate a legitimate business.
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