No burial yet for Ruby Rose

MANILA, Philippines - The family of murder victim Ruby Rose Jimenez deferred her burial for several days to give her children a chance to pay their last respects to her.

Ruby Rose’s two children were aged seven years and four months when she disappeared on March 14, 2007. The victim was on her way to visit her children at her in-laws’ house – she lost a court battle for their custody to her estranged husband, Manuel “Thirdy” Jimenez III – when she was reported missing. 

Ruby Rose’s remains at the the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque City.

“They (Jimenez camp) have been shouting to heavens that they have nothing to do with my sister’s killing. So why should they prevent the kids from paying their last respects to their mother,” Ruby Rose’s sister, former actress Rochelle Barrameda, told Metro Manila police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales.

Rochelle is also seeking the help of concerned government agencies and non-government organizations to compel the Jimenez family to bring the two children to the funeral parlor soon.

“We will not bury my sister. We will exhaust all means until such time the children have a last glimpse of their mother,” she said.

Ruby Rose’s body, stuffed in an oil drum encased in cement, was recovered a mile from shore in Navotas waters last June 11.

Fishing magnate Lope Jimenez and his brother, lawyer Manuel Jimenez II are two of the seven suspects charged for Ruby Rose’s murder before the Department of Justice.

Another suspect, Manuel Montero, a former operations manager of Lope’s shipping firm, led police to Ruby Rose’s body.

The Jimenez brothers denied having something to do with Ruby Rose’s killing, claiming they were “framed.”

But Rosales told The STAR yesterday that the discovery of Ruby Rose’s body is only the “tip of the iceberg.”

He said the NCRPO is validating allegations that the suspects were behind several more Mafia-style murders, like that of Ruby Rose.

“Montero would be divulging all he knows about the illegal activities of his group. The Jimenezes can shout their hearts out but should be ready to present their evidence in court because we are going all-out to pin them down,” Rosales said in an interview.

According to Rochelle, Ruby Rose mentioned the murder of newsman Alberto Orsolino, who was shot dead in 2006.

Police records show that Orsolino worked for the Jimenezes before he became a reporter. The gunman, who was later arrested, claimed Jimenez ordered the hit.

“We are offering our help for the Orsolino family to be given justice but they ignored our initiative,” Rosales said.

Witness has ‘ax to grind’

Lope’s lawyer, Paul Lentejas, said Montero “has an ax to grind against my client because he was greatly hurt economically” after he was fired from the Buena Suerte Jimenez (BSJ) Fishing and Trading Co. in Navotas in December 2007.

Montero reportedly received P100,000 a month at BSJ as its operations manager for 13 years.

Lentejas said if his client had Ruby Rose killed, he would have retained Montero in the firm to better control him.

“He had a lot of misdeeds to the company, that’s why he was sacked. We could present proof for that in proper time and forum,” Lentejas said.

Lentejas, when asked whether reports claiming Thirdy is preventing his two daughters from attending their mother’s wake are true, the lawyer replied: “No comment. For many years my client and his brother, including Thirdy, are not on speaking terms. So, we have nothing to do with them.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Pia Cayetano condemned Ruby Rose’s killing and urged “authorities to look into the angle of domestic violence because right now, the witness had only so far tagged the victim’s father-in-law.”

“This is a domestic violence issue. Ruby Rose’s sister claims the husband is behind all this, and that the victim was last seen going to their conjugal home. This case is a gruesome reminder of how domestic violence in various forms and degrees continue to victimize women,” she said. – With Pete Laude, Christina Mendez