DOJ starts new Orate slay probe

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) started yesterday a court-ordered reinvestigation of the killing of Noel Orate in the house of his long-time girlfriend, former Quezon City congresswoman Nannette Castelo-Daza.

Represented by lawyer Doy Bringas, Orate’s family submitted to Assistant State Prosecutor Gino Paolo Santiago documents they believe would prove that the killing was premeditated and should be a case of murder and not homicide, as earlier filed against Daza’s son-in-law and primary accused Allan Robes.

The documents included a medico-legal report by forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun and a spot report of the Scene of the Crime Operatives team who responded to the incident last Feb. 10 in Daza’s home on Maningning street in Barangay Teachers Village-East.

The two reports showed Orate testing negative for gunpowder burns and that two of the five gunshots he sustained were shot at a close range. “This debunks their claim of self-defense. Since he was shot at close range, it shows that it was premeditated,” Bringas explained to reporters after the proceeding.

Fortun, for her part, supported this claim. “The conclusion in our report is that Mr. Orate was already on the floor when he was shot two more times. And in our view, all five shots were shot at close range,” she said.

Robes had earlier claimed he shot the victim in self-defense after the latter reportedly tried to hold hostage everyone inside Daza’s house hostage.