Former actress Rochelle Barrameda said Tuesday that the Jimenez family 's claim that the body found in Manila Bay last month is not her sisters' is just a delaying tactic.

"If they had doubts, they should have said it earlier. It's very clear, they want to delay the case... We are certain it was Ruby Rose," Barrameda said referring to the body found by police through state witness Manuel Montero in Manila Bay last June 10.

The body was stuffed in a drum filled with cement and then placed inside a cemented steel case.

Montero pinpointed the steel case's location at the Manila Bay and admitted having involvement in Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez's killing last March 14, 2007. The body was found at the Buena Suerte Jimenez Fishing and Trading Co. (BSJ) compound at Pier 2 of the Navotas fish port.

The state witness claimed that Ruby Rose was killed on orders of brothers Lope Jimenez, owner of the BSJ and lawyer Manuel Jimenez Jr., father of the victim's husband, Manuel Jimenez III, who has also been tagged in the murder.

Barrameda said her sister's body could not have been discovered if not for Montero. She said it would have been impossible to locate her sister's body if Montero was lying.

On Monday, the Jimenezes filed their counter affidavits at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and claimed that Montero's fabrication of Ruby Rose's supposed killing was "an act of revenge."

The Jimenezes said Montero was fired from his job in 2007 by Lope for “various infractions.”

They also said that Lope and Manuel Jr. jointly ordering Ruby Rose's killing was impossible because the two "are locked in a bitter feud since 2005 and have not been in speaking terms for the past four years now."

Defense lawyers also presented before the DOJ investigating panel a total of 15 witnesses, mostly employees of BSJ, to support the claim.

The lawyers also asked the complainants to show solid proof that the body recovered at the bottom of the Manila Bay was really that of Ruby Rose.

Aside from Ruby Rose's supposed killing, Montero claimed that he participated in five more Mafia-style executions as ordered by the Jimenezes.