Fishing magnate back as suspect

MANILA, Philippines - Fishing magnate Lope Jimenez will have to return to the trial court again as the principal suspect in the killing of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez, sister of former actress Rochelle Barrameda, according to an order by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) chief said yesterday she has ordered the indictment of the businessman who was already cleared by her predecessor, Agnes Devanadera, in May.

In a resolution, De Lima said Devanadera erred in believing Lope’s claim that there was no proof showing his involvement in the conspiracy in the Mafia-like killing of Ruby Rose. She said she considers as “erroneous the previous resolution” issued by Devanadera.

“I’m directing the inclusion of Lope Jimenez in the indictment... It appears that in the testimony of (Manuel) Montero, Lope is the most guilty that is why I ordered him to be included in the information,” she said after granting a partial appeal of Ruby Rose’s parents and reviewing all evidence in the case already being tried at Malabon City Regional Trial Court Branch 70.

Jimenez, who runs the family-owned Buena Suerte Jimenez Fishing and Trading Co. (BSJ) in Navotas City, was included in the charge sheet in August last year after fiscals found probable cause.

Investigating prosecutors, led by Senior State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, gave weight to the testimony of self-confessed killer Manuel Montero, who claimed it was Lope and his brother Manuel Jr., also an accused in the case, who ordered the killing.

Upon appeal of the Jimenezes, though, Devanadera issued a resolution last March dropping Lope from the charge sheet, saying “the alleged conspiracy among the accused was not previously established by separate and independent evidence.”

Devanadera said Lope’s relationship with his brother Manuel Jr. and nephew Manuel III, Ruby Rose’s husband, was “estranged.” This was not controverted by the Barramedas. Even Lope Jimenez’s submission that he did not personally know Ruby Rose Barrameda was never specifically denied.”

Ruby Rose’s parents, Robert and Asuncion, appealed this decision of the DOJ, which was not touched by Devanadera’s successor, Alberto Agra.

In the new resolution, De Lima also denied the appeal of Ruby Rose’s estranged husband, Manuel III, of the earlier order for his indictment for parricide charges also for alleged involvement in the killing.

She upheld the findings of Devanadera that “the statements made by Montero as to the participation of Manuel III to the killing cannot be simply considered as hearsay” and that he “has every motive to participate, if not plan, the murder of his wife.”

The DOJ kept its stand that Montero’s testimony seemed accurate and that his identification of the alleged masterminds and other respondents must be upheld.

The Jimenezes were implicated as masterminds in the killing. The DOJ stressed that issues in their defense were “evidentiary in nature and are more properly threshed out in a full-blown trial where parties are given all the opportunity to present evidence, scientific or otherwise, in support of their cause of action or defense.”

Ruby Rose reportedly disappeared on March 14, 2007, after a bitter dispute with her estranged husband over the custody of their two young children. Her body was recovered by police at the bottom of the Manila Bay last June 10, stuffed into a metal drum into which cement had been poured. The drum was then enclosed in a steel casing.