Daza kin hold thanksgiving Mass

MANILA, Philippines - A “thanksgiving Mass” was organized yesterday by the Daza family and the relatives of Bulacan provincial board member Allan Robes for their safety on the night the estranged boyfriend of former congresswoman Nanette Castelo-Daza was killed.

The former lawmaker’s sister, Pinky Cupino, said they were thankful to Robes, who she said was able to save Daza and his pregnant wife, Jessica, on that night.

Daza and her camp are claiming they were held hostage that night by Noel Orate. They claimed what Robes did when he shot Orate was an act of self-defense. They added Orate went there asking to reconcile with the former lawmaker.

Orate’s children are asking the court to revert back to the fiscal the homicide case filed against Robes, saying it should have been murder. They said it was Daza who summoned their father that night.

They said it could not have been an act of self-defense, since their father was shot five times. Cupino, however, noted there was no treachery involved, contrary to the claim of the Orates, saying Orate’s body was not facing the ground and the shots entered his body from the front.

She said Daza and Robes voluntarily surrendered Robes’ gun to the police when they arrived. It was Daza who called up the police to ask for assistance during the commotion at the house.

Cupino said there was no surveillance camera at the former lawmaker’s residence and they would have wanted footage from the camera because it would support their claim.