Brother, sister implicated in actor's murder

Manila: Philippine police Tuesday filed criminal charges against seven suspects linked to the murder of actor Ramgen ‘Ram' Revilla who was stabbed and fatally shot in his house in Parañaque City last Friday.

The suspects who were charged with murder and frustrated murder include the victim's siblings, Ramon Joseph "RJ" Bautista and Ramona Bautista.

The Bautistas are the children of Philippine action film legend and former senator Ramon Revilla Senior, who is said to have fathered at least 80 children.

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Junior had earlier offered a half a million peso cash reward for information that could lead to the arrest of Ram's killer.

The 84-year-old Revilla Senior was rushed to hospital Tuesday after his blood pressure shot up.

Ramon Joseph, 18, was arrested in Cavite province after attending his elder brother's wake. Two other suspects are now in police custody while Ramona and three others remain at large.

The arrested suspects were brought to the prosecutor's office where the charges were formally filed. A charge of frustrated murder was also filed against the suspects after they allegedly shot Janelle Manahan, the actor's girlfriend.

The bizarre twist came after a witness who claimed he was part of the group that was offered 200,000 pesos (Dh734,400) to kill the victim surfaced and revealed the plot allegedly masterminded by Ramon Joseph. "The witness voluntarily came to the police station to help us solve the case," said Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran, chief of the city police.

Bad blood

He said there was "bad blood" between the Bautista brothers. According to investigators, Ramon Joseph allegedly ordered Michael Cruz Altia and Roy Francis Tolisora to kill the victim on October 12. Failing in this, they met again on October 14 and hatched another plan.

Ramona, who was earlier tagged as a possible witness after she was allegedly taken by the gunmen and dumped in some place, was implicated as part of the conspiracy after she allegedly faked her abduction. "She was supposed to call for an ambulance, but she vanished. When she came back after an hour, she claimed she was briefly taken as hostage by the killers," Beltran said.