Tuesday, February 14, 2012

News Update Son of ex-lawmaker's boyfriend seeks NBI help

MANILA, Philippines - A son of Noel Orate, the estranged boyfriend of former Quezon City congresswoman Nanette Castelo-Daza, asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday for protection and for the agency to review the circumstances that led to his father’s death.
Noel Orate Jr. appeared before the NBI’s Death Investigation Division chief Romulo Asis yesterday, alleging that there were several men casing their house after his father was shot dead by Daza’s son-in-law, Bulacan provincial board member Allan Robes, 38. Robes is married to Daza’s daughter, Quezon City Councilor Jessica Daza.
According to Orate Jr., his father’s remains will be interred on Sunday at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.
Orate Jr. also expressed disappointment following the filing of homicide charges filed in court against Robes, saying it should have been murder.
Assistant City Prosecutor Solivan Usman downgraded the case from the initial murder complaint by the Quezon City Police District since the evidence presented during the inquest proceedings was only circumstantial.
Orate Jr.’s lawyer, Eduardo Bringas, said he will file in court a motion for a reinvestigation of the case. He also said they will seek the intervention of the NBI.
“Just to remove any doubt and any clout. Let’s face it, they (Daza family) are a political family in the area,” Bringas said in an interview.
Robes was placed under arrest following Orate’s killing in the house of Daza.
Jessica claimed they were held hostage by Orate, who went to the Daza residence on Maningning Street in Barangay Teacher’s Village East Friday night. They claimed the victim had wanted to make up with the former congresswoman, who had ended their relationship.
But Orate’s son claimed it was his father who had ended the relationship and that Daza was the one who summoned his father Friday night.
Argument for murder
Bringas yesterday filed a motion before the fiscal’s office yesterday, asking to file murder charges against Robes. He noted that the victim’s body was facing the floor when he died. He said this indicted that the victim was killed from behind.
He also said three of the shots were to the victim’s heart, which he claimed showed that the suspect “made sure” that the victim would die.
Second Assistant City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco denied the motion yesterday.
At the wake yesterday, Orate Jr. slammed the allegation made by the Daza family that his father held the members of the household hostage.
Orate Jr. said if it was an act of self-defense, his father should not have been shot repeatedly in the chest.
He also belied the claim that his father was drunk that night, noting that the victim’s vehicle was properly parked outside the Daza residence.
Orate Jr. even claimed that the former congresswoman had called up his grandparents in the United States, informing them that their son had committed suicide. - By Reinir Padua and Sandy Araneta