Actress seeks help for missing sister

Desperate to find her sister, missing since last week, actress Rochelle Barrameda has turned to the Philippine National Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) for help.

Barrameda said her younger sister, Rubyrose Jimenez, 26, simply disappeared after going to the I-Bank branch in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

"We filed a complaint for a missing person while our family are also exerting effort to find her," Barrameda told The STAR.

She said Rubyrose’s last known contact was a call to her lawyer, Dingdong Peña, from her cellular phone at 1:59 p.m. Wednesday.

"That was her last call, which was to inform him that she received a court notice," Barrameda said, adding that her sister apparently made the call while she was in the vicinity of the bank.

Barrameda also said her sister’s marriage to businessman Manuel Jimenez III is on the rocks, reportedly due to his violent behavior.

She said Rubyrose left her in-laws’ residence, where the couple used to live, to avoid further physical harm inflicted on her by her husband.

Barrameda said Rubyrose still feared for her safety even while she stayed at their parents’ home, and she sought a temporary protection order against her husband before the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court. The case is still pending.

Rubyrose, the youngest among the four Barrameda children, also filed a custody case against her husband before the Las Piñas court for her two daughters, aged seven years and five months. This case is also pending.

Barrameda said they also plan to go to the National Bureau of Investigation if they do not get the assistance they need from PACER, which is headed by Senior Superintendent Eduardo Iglesias.

Rubyrose’s disappearance was initially booked at the Las Piñas police, but Barrameda said there "has been no feedback" from the police regarding their efforts to locate her sister.