Revilla clan calls for reinvestigation of brother’s murder case

The Revilla clan wants a reinvestigation even if the police are confident that the case is closed.

GMA News Online reports that Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., speaking for the clan, urged investigators to be sure of the credibility of their witnesses in the murder case of his half-brother Ram Revilla. Ram was shot and stabbed to death on October 29. Police later tagged his suspected killers-which included Ram’s younger siblings Ramon Joseph (RJ) and Maria Ramona (Mara).

Ram, RJ, and Mara are former Senator Ramon Revilla Sr.’s children by Genelyn Magsaysay. RJ was arrested on October 31 and Ram was buried on November 2. Ramona hasn’t been seen in public since she was tagged as a suspect.

Senator Revilla told reporters during Ram’s interment that his family could not believe that Ram’s siblings could murder their own brother. He said that the statements of the witnesses "should be validated, not taken on face value, alone."

Parañaque City police investigators stand by the results of their investigation. They consider the case closed after having identified RJ as the mastermind and Ramona as co-conspirator, based on the testimonies of several witnesses such as Janelle Manahan, Ram’s girlfriend who was also shot when Ram was attacked. (Manahan is now recuperating in a hospital.) Then there’s Ruel Puzon (other reports identify him as "Rodel Puzon"), one of the killers allgedly hired by RJ. Puzon is now being touted as the "star witness" of the case.

The other suspects in the case, Michael Cruz Altia and Roy Francis Tolisora, have been in police custody since October 31. Three more suspects are at large: Norwin de la Cruz and two others with the aliases Bryan and Glaiza.


According to the report, Chief Inspector Enrique Sy, head of the task force investigating the Ram’s murder, stands by the process and results of their probe. He pointed out: "Ang ginawa naming imbestigasyon ay masusi, thorough, dahan-dahan at metikuloso (Our investigation was very through, purposeful, and meticulous)."

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