Psychiatrist defends slain DFA exec’s sis

This suspect is incapable of planning a fright for her sisters, let alone murder.

This was the claim of Ester Ramos Bailey’s psychiatrist, Dr. Rene Yat, who paid a visit to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday.

Ester Bailey, the eldest sister of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Alicia Ramos who died in an purported robbery attempt on April 24, would not have ordered her sister — her closest friend — to be harmed, Yat said, adding that his patient lacks the mental capability to give instructions to "scare" her siblings Alicia and Leticia.

Suspect Robeto Lumagui said Bailey had hired him and others to scare her sisters, allegedly so that they would allow her to handle her own finances. He said Bailey offered to pay him P20,000 to frighten Alicia and Leticia.

The other suspects in the Ramos slay are Joel Ablay and Ablay’s cousin Michael Cenil and Jun Maricar, who remains at large.

According to Lumagui, he and his cohorts had no intention of killing Alicia and she died by accident after suffocating on the packing tape they had covered her nose and mouth with.

Bailey, 65, is the eldest of the Ramos sisters. She and Yat made a surprise visit to the NBI offices in Manila and denied the statements given by Lumagui.

Lumagui on Tuesday implicated Bailey in the crime and claimed she hired them for the sum of P20,000 to "scare and rob" Ramos, 64.

Lumagui said Bailey held a grudge against her siblings because they refused to let her handle her finances and considered her a spendthrift.

Yat said Bailey had been confined to the St. Claire Medical Center (SCMC) in Makati City and has been in and out of the hospital since 2000.

Prior to being transferred to the SCMC, Bailey received treatment at another medical facility for eight years, Yat said.

Very close

Yat said he doubts his client was capable of hiring men to scare the sisters, especially Alicia, because Alicia was her best friend and they were very close. "Actually, Ester trusted Alicia and was her confidant," Yat said.

"Its impossible that Ester Bailey is the mastermind (of the killing)," he said. "Anybody who knows Ester Bailey knows you do not talk to her, you cannot have a good conversation with her because she is always angry."

Because of her mental disorder, "it is unbelievable for (Bailey) to give instructions," he said. "She is already old and frail and is a diabetic."

When Bailey learned that Ramos died on April 25, she grieved, according to Yat. "She is probably thinking that now no one will be there to help her."

Yat also said Alicia had hired him to be Bailey’s attending psychiatrist. Ramos visits Bailey twice a week at the SCMC.

Alicia reportedly asked Yat to pick Bailey up two days before the break-in at their house at 5552 Boyle Street, Barangay Palanan, Makati City because she was having another one of her "fits."

At dawn on April 24, the suspects allegedly forced their way into the Ramos residence and hog-tied and gagged Ramos and Leticia, 61, before fleeing with some of the sisters’ belongings and cash.

Yat and Leticia only told Bailey the news of Alicia’s death on the following day, according to the psychiatrist, whereupon Bailey went into a state of denial.

He decided to visit NBI National Capital Region Director Edmund Arugay’s office at 3 p.m. to assist in the investigation and because he was also alarmed by news reports that Bailey was allegedly in hiding.

Arugay acceded to Yat’s request that government doctors make their own observations and assessment of Bailey’s mental health. Bailey and Leticia will be summoned to a preliminary investigation next week, though Yat objected to the idea that his client would be subjected to intense scrutiny.

He said they would inform the Department of Justice (DOJ) that Dr. Yat appeared before the NBI to report on the medical condition of his patient.

Meanwhile, Arugay said the NBI has recommended that the DOJ file robbery with homicide charges against suspects Joel Ablay, Michael Cenil and Lumagui, along with separate charges of theft and murder.

The DOJ has already filed theft and murder raps against the three suspects before the Makati Regional Trial Court.