Janelle lawyer seeks Palace help to deport Ramona

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer for Janelle Manahan yesterday appealed for Malacañang’s help to deport murder suspect Ramona Bautista from Turkey.

“We are seeking the assistance and intervention (of) no less than President Noynoy Aquino in filing a request with his counterpart, the Turkish president, in seeking the repatriation of Ms. Ramona Bautista to stand prosecution in the Philippine justice system,” Argee Guevarra told reporters.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has included Bautista in its red notice list or the organization’s most wanted list.

Guevarra said the Interpol’s action would have made it easier to arrest and deport Bautista but the Philippines has no extradition treaty with Turkey.

He said the President could seek Bautista’s deportation through an executive agreement with the Turkish government.

He also expressed hope that an extradition treaty between Philippines and Turkey would soon be forged.

Bautista is one of the seven suspects charged with murder for the death of her brother and actor Ram Revilla (Ramgen Bautista in real life). She fled to Turkey after recanting her statement that she was kidnapped after Revilla was killed last Oct. 28.

Bautista’s mother Genelyn Magsaysay decried her daughter’s inclusion in the Interpol’s most wanted list, saying her daughter could not be considered a fugitive pending the resolution of their petition with the DOJ to review the case.

As this developed, a Parañaque court ordered the cancellation of Bautista's passport.

In a five-page decision, Judge Fortunito Madrona of Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 also granted the hold departure order against Bautista and six others accused of Ramgen's murder.

Guevarra hailed the ruling, saying it would prevent the suspects from fleeing should they be granted bail.