Sister identifies suspect in Ruby Rose Barrameda slay

The alleged mastermind in the kidnapping and murder of a businessman in Quezon City has been identified by actress Rochelle Barrameda as one of the suspects in the 2007 killing of her sister Ruby Rose Barrameda.

Rochelle showed up at the police station following the arrest of the alleged mastermind.

“Same pa rin, drum, baon sa lupa, baon sa dagat. Ganoon pa rin ‘yung ginagawa nila, katulad ng ginawa nila sa kapatid ko,” Rochelle said in a ''24 Oras Weekend'' report by John Consulta on Saturday.

(It's the same method. The using of a drum, the burying in the ground or in the sea. They still do the same thing, like what they did to my sister.)

“Hindi man sa kaso ng kapatid ko o sa kaso nila magkaroon ng katarungan, at least sa isang kaso na doon siya masentensiyahan, para na rin kaming nagkaroon ng hustisya,” Rochelle added.

(Even though it isn't in my sister's or any other victim's case, it feels like justice has been served in at least one case where he can be sentenced.)

The man denied any involvement in Ruby Rose's killing.

Footage from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) showed the businessman in handcuffs after he was abducted and brought to Calauan, Laguna on January 5.

Another video showed two men lifting a drum containing the body of the victim, who was killed through strangling and wrapping a plastic around his head.

The QCPD CIDU said the suspects pretended to buy fish from the victim’s fish farm in Laguna.

Earlier in the day, the victim made a call to his son for a cash transfer. But later that night, the victim's son called him but the latter failed to respond.

In the early morning of January 6, the victim's son received a notification regarding withdrawal transactions from his father’s ATM cards, leading him to report to authorities that his father was missing.

According to the QCPD, upon investigation, CCTV footage showed that the victim had been kidnapped by two suspects along Xavierville Ave., Barangay Loyola Heights, Quezon City, at around 8 a.m.

CCTV footage from two banks showed that other men, and not the victim, retrieved the money from the ATM.

Recovered from the suspects were a .22 Black Widow 9mm firearm loaded with five live rounds of ammunition; a hand grenade; seven mobile phones; ATM cards; various IDs and a camouflage sling bag.

The victim's vehicle was found abandoned in a street at Miramonte Park in Caloocan City.

On January 9, the victim’s body was found buried in a vacant lot in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, which bore ligature marks on the neck, and the hands were restrained with handcuffs.

In the 24 Oras Weekend report, the suspects themselves admitted the abduction and killing of the victim, and disclosed the burial site in Bulacan.

The alleged mastermind, who uses two different names, was arrested following a hot pursuit operation.

“Kumu-contact pa rin kasi ‘yung mastermind sa kaniya so ang ginawa, magkikita raw sila para ibigay ‘yung kulang na bayad na P100,000,” said QCPD CIDU chief Police Major Dondon Llapitan.

(The mastermind was still in contact with the victim, he said they needed to meet to be able to pay the remaining P100,000 as payment for the killing.)

“Ang tinitingnan nating anggulo at medyo nilalaliman pa rin natin, ‘yung sa lupa, sa mga titulo. Kasi ‘yun din ang ni-reveal ng ating suspek,” Llapitan added.

(The angle we are looking at and we are still digging a little deeper, is land and titles. That is also what the suspect revealed.)

“Tinape po tapos sinakal lang po, naka-tape po ‘yung buong mukha niya eh, tinape po nu’ng isang kasama namin. Tatlo po kami. Hawakan ko raw, tapos si sir Noli po kumuha po bale ng isang bakal, ‘yun ‘yung ipinangkalang niya para maging matigas ‘yung tali, hindi siya gumalaw,” one of the suspects said.

(He was taped and then strangled, his whole face was taped, one of us taped him. There were three of us. They said I hold him, then Noli took a piece of iron, that's what he used to make the rope stronger so the victim could not move.)

“Hinire lang po ako para magpanggap na buyer ng tilapia, that’s it then naipit na po kami sa sitwasyon,” another suspect said.

(I was just hired to pretend as a tilapia buyer, that's it, then we were stuck in a situation.)

The victim’s remains would undergo autopsy, while the arrested suspects, together with the recovered evidence, were brought to the CIDU for investigation and proper disposition.

Ruby Rose was reported missing in March 2007. Two years later, her body was found stuffed inside a cemented drum that had been dropped into the waters off Navotas City.

Manuel Montero, the man who pointed authorities to the location of Ruby Rose’s body, identified the suspects, and was later turned into a state witness, recanted his statements and has since gone missing.

In September 2019, the Malabon Regional Trial Court Branch 170 dismissed the parricide case against Ruby Rose's estranged husband, Manuel "Third" Jimenez III, for the prosecution's supposed failure to establish that he had masterminded the killing of his wife.

The court also dismissed the murder case against Third's father, Manuel Jimenez, Jr.; Lennard "Spyke" Descalso, and Norberto Ponce upon finding that the prosecution was unable to establish their "direct participation" in Ruby Rose's death.  —Jamil Santos/VBL, GMA Integrated News