Police mull perjury, obstruction of justice raps vs Ramona Bautista

The Las Piñas Police on Monday said they are considering filing perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Ramona Bautista, a principal suspect in the killing of her brother Ramgen "Ram" Revilla last Oct. 28. In a report aired over GMA News TV's News TV Live, anchor Ivan Mayrina quoted Chief Inspector Jandale Sulit as saying that they are thinking of filing perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Ramona after she retracted her earlier statement that she was abducted by her brother’s killers. In her earlier statement to the police, Ramona said she was abducted by the suspects and was left near a mall in Las Piñas City. She said she could not identify the suspects because they were wearing Halloween masks. Last Friday, however, she admitted that she was not abducted and that she fled the crime scene for fear of her life. She fled the country days after the killing. Sulit, head of the Las Piñas Police investigation division, reportedly said that Ramona may be guilty of obstruction of justice for giving a false statement and fleeing from the investigation. On the other hand, he said they are still thinking whether they can file perjury charges against Ramona for allegedly lying to them. He admitted that the perjury charge may not hold since Ramona was not under oath when she gave the statement. He said Ramona gave the statement on the wee hours of Oct. 29 when there was no one available to administer the oath. Sulit likewise said that they still have to figure out if they can file the charges even if the Parañaque Police are the ones handling the case.

Ram was killed in his Parañaque City home. His girlfriend, Janelle Manahan, was also attacked but survived the incident. The police have filed a complaint of murder and frustrated murder against Ramona and her brother Ramon Joseph "RJ" Bautista, 18, for their alleged involvement in the crime. RJ is already in police custody. Ramona, however, flew out of the Philippines with the Bureau of Immigration’s consent on Friday night. BI officials said Ramona was likely on her way to Turkey where her husband reportedly resides. At the time of her departure, no case has been filed in court against Ramona. Also charged along with the siblings were Michael Altea and Roy Francis Tolisora, who were earlier arrested by police. Three other suspects, identified as Norwin de la Cruz and two others with the aliases Bryan and Glaiza, are still at-large. - KBK, GMA News