Hold order sought vs Orate slay suspect

MANILA, Philippines - The children of former congresswoman Nanette Castelo-Daza’s estranged boyfriend Noel Orate have asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to issue a hold departure order (HDO) against their father’s alleged killer.

Noel Jr., Noel Lyn and Noel Rose said Allan Robes, Bulacan provincial board member, should be barred from leaving the country.

“We are fighting for the rights of my dad. We will not stop until we see justice. The fight will continue,” Noel told The STAR in an interview.

“We need help and protection,” he said, adding that her sisters are worried about going up against two political families from Quezon City and Bulacan.

When asked if anyone is threatening their family he said, “let’s just put it this way, if anything happens to me they know who is behind it.”

Eduardo Bringas, counsel for the Orate family, raised the possibility that Robes, who is out on bail, would flee once the homicide case filed against him is raised to murder.

Bringas said QC RTC Branch 218 Judge Luis Zenon Maceren would hear their petition at 2 p.m. today.

Bringas also called for a reinvestigation of the killing, noting that the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) did not include a Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) report on the incident. He said Daza’s testimony was also not considered.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), which has condemned the police's “lousy investigation“ on the case, is helping the Orate family in their quest for justice.

”We have strong reasons to believe that the case filed against Robes should have been murder instead of homicide. It will be a grave miscarriage of justice if this case is not reinvestigated," VACC founding chairman and president Dante Jimenez said.