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Monday, April 25, 2005
Senior diplomat killed in robbery
MANILA -- A senior Philippine diplomat was found dead in her Manila home early Sunday after she was attacked during a robbery, police said.
Alicia Ramos, the foreign assistant secretary for Asia and Pacific affairs, was found strangled to death with a towel in her home near Manila's Makati financial district, while her sister was slightly injured in the attack and taken to hospital, Metropolitan Manila police chief Avelino Razon said.
Razon said three suspected robbers entered the house at 5:30 a.m. and carted away valuables.
"We found out that the robbery was pulled off by...three males...that earlier gained entrance to the residence," Razon told reporters. "Initially we are looking at robbery, but we will look at other angles."
The suspected robbers knocked on the door, and when Ramos's sister Maria Leticia, who also works at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), opened the door, "they pounced on her, gagged and tied her, then they proceeded to the second floor, where they strangled (Ramos)," Razon added.
He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called Philippine National Police Chief Arturo Lomibao early Sunday to demand a vigorous investigation.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, who is Arroyo's spokesman, said they are saddened by the incident and condemned in the strongest possible terms the "brutal killing" of Ramos.
"The police are instructed to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice," Bunye said in a telephone interview.
Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Gilbert Asuque also condemned the killing of Ramos, saying the country has lost a dedicated civil servant.
Police said Ramos could have been resisted the robbery, prompting the three robbers to kill her. The former ambassador was found inside her room with a towel tied around her neck.
Makati City Police Chief Jovito Gutierrez said some cash and valuables were missing from Ramos's house.
Senior Superintendent Gutierrez said they are also looking for Ramos's housemaid, who has been missing since Friday.
Ramos, 64, was the Philippine ambassador to Singapore in 1995 when Flor Contemplacion was hanged for murder despite appeals from the Philippine government. Contemplacion was convicted of killing fellow Filipino maid Delia Maga.
Tempers flared and the two countries temporarily withdrew their respective ambassadors. Relations were normalized in 1996.
Ramos was also a former Philippine ambassador to New Zealand, and was the diplomat who set up the country's embassy in Romania in 1990. (AP/JFF/JMR)
(April 25, 2005 issue)
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