Sister of slain DFA exec mentally unfit for trial

Psychiatric experts from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) said the eldest sister of the slain Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Alicia Ramos is mentally unfit to stand the rigors of a court trial.

In a two-page report submitted to State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, NBI Neuro-Psychiatric Service chief Rommel Papa and NCMH psychologist-in-charge Rebelyne Lumampao said that Esther Ramos-Bailey, who has been tagged as the mastermind, is suffering from "Bipolar I disorder."

"Based on the foregoing history, behavioral observation and mental status examination done, subject Ester Ramos Bailey, was found to be suffering from Bipolar I disorder, current episode, manic. This disorder is characterized by an elevated and expansive mood," Papa said.

He said that a patient with Bipolar I disorder shows hyperproductive speech, elevated self-esteem, thought disturbance and racing thoughts."

"At present, she is in a state of acute exacerbation of symptoms, therefore, she is deemed not fit to stand the rigors of court trial," Papa said.

Ramos-Bailey failed to give her testimony during the second day of the preliminary investigation last Thursday after her lawyer Reynald Suarez invoked her right to remain silent, citing her doctor’s findings that she was suffering from manic depression.

Roberto Lumagui, the alleged leader of the group that barged into the Ramos residence in Makati last April 24, insisted it was Ramos-Bailey who ordered them to scare the DFA official.

Lumagui claimed that he had no intention of killing the victim, saying her death was accidental.

In an interview, Velasco said that Ramos-Bailey was not yet off the hook despite the findings of the doctors from the NBI and the NCMH.

Velasco said her illness had "lucid intervals."

"She could have ordered the crime to Lumagui when she was still normal. What the doctors from NBI and the NCMH are saying that she is not yet mentally fit to testify. We will still conduct clarificatory hearings on the findings of the doctors next week and I’m still doing some research," he said.

Velasco said that if evidence shows that Ramos-Bailey committed the crime during the interval of the attack of her mental illness, the court will have to issue an order to confine her to the NCMH.

"And once she gets well, she will be ordered to face the preliminary investigation. If evidence is strong she was the one who ordered Lumagui to scare her sister, that unfortunately led to the death of the victim, then we will charge her," Velasco said.

Velasco said that "insanity is just a matter of defense."

"The burden of proof is on the lawyer and the accused, who is claiming to be suffering from insanity," Velasco said.

Velasco said that the DOJ will be conducting an ocular inspection of the house, where the crime was committed to determine the veracity of the claims of Leticia Ramos, the youngest of the sisters, that she just walked from their house to the St. Claire Hospital on Dian street, where Ramos-Bailey was in and out, to call the police.

"We need to know the distance of the house of Ms. Ramos and the hospital," Velasco said.

He said that he would also subpoena the victim’s neighbors, who claimed that they did not know that something was happening in the house of the Ramos family because Leticia did not shout for help.