Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sunday the Department of Justice will remand the complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation against 11 people in connection with the death of flight attendant Christine Dacera to the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office for preliminary investigation.
“The DOJ's plan, when I talked to the Prosecutor General, is that we might return or forward this case to the City Prosecutor's Office of Makati, which is filed with the DOJ proper . . . for them to investigate, conduct a preliminary investigation,” Guevarra told DZBB radio.
He said the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office may resolve the rape case with homicide charges along with the complaints filed by the NBI last Friday before the DOJ.
"The DOJ or the City Prosecutor's Office of Makati will conduct an appropriate preliminary investigation on the new cases,” Guevarra said.
“So they will send a subpoena to these respondents in these cases to submit their counter-affidavits and controverting evidence if there is regarding these new complaints that were filed against them.”
Last Friday, the NBI filed a complaint for obstruction of justice before the DOJ against Dacera’s companions at a Makati hotel where she celebrated New Year’s Eve.
The respondents named in the complaint include Mark Anthony Rosales, Rommel Galido, John Pascual dela Serna III, Darwin Joseph Macalla, Gregorio Angelo Rafael de Guzman, Jezreel Rapinan, Alain Chen, Reymar Englis and Louie Delima. Their lawyer Neptali Maroto was also included in the complaint.
The NBI also said Rapinan, Chen, Delima and dela Serna should be prosecuted for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide for neglecting Dacera’s condition, which “led to her untimely death.”
It also accused Rosales of administering illegal drugs.
Galido and Rosales were also accused of allegedly attempting to give away illegal drugs.
The NBI recommended perjury raps against Dela Serna, Galido and Macalla.
A complaint for falsification of an official document by a public officer was filed against Southern Police District medico-legal officer Michael Nick Sarmiento, who ordered the embalming of Dacera’s remains without the consent of her family.
Some of Dacera’s friends were also earlier charged by the police with rape with homicide before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office.
Dacera, 23, died on January 1 after a New Year's Eve celebration with her friends. Her family believes she was drugged and sexually abused.
Dacera's friends, however, insisted they did not harm her, instead claiming that they took care of her when she was heavily drunk until her final moments.