Face to face with Rod Strunk

His face was expressionless. His stare was evil. His eyebrows were thick and demonic. He didn’t cry the first time we saw him on TV when the cold body of his wife was found inside her car at the parking lot. His movements were slow and calculated. He had no job. Money, they said, was the primary motive and that there was a struggle between his wife and the criminal – as if she was being forced to sign some papers. He wiped JV’s perspiration. There was something in his eyes – we could not tell – but something sinister was hidden beneath the pupils that only trained undercovers like all of us (who have been intently watching the gruesome investigation of the murder of Nida Blanca, one of the most-loved icons of Philippine show business) can see. Rod Strunk, her husband of 22 years has been tried and convicted by publicity. The most damning evidence – we don’t like the way he looks!

I plead guilty of holding Rod Strunk culpable for the crime. I plead guilty of thinking he must have something to do with the crime because his stare reminds me of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. I feel stupid now, having thought he was guilty because of his thick eyebrows. How cruel it is to think that this man is simply guilty because he has no job when his wife died. If he were a Vice-President of a bank, could he have been less suspicious? It’s almost hilarious to think that I thought he was "it" because he wiped JV’s sweat on the face. Thank God, I’m not a judge.

But how many of us have judged and found Rod Strunk guilty in the court of public opinion? And how?

When Philip Medel came out with his confession, we heard a jubilant choral verdict of, "See, I told you. It’s him!"

Poor Rod Strunk. Defenseless, helpless against the tidal wave of public distrust, he was convicted. A couple of days later, Medel in an award-winning recantation, screamed that he was tortured, concerned to have admitted to the murder and having been hired by Rod – whom he said he had not met.

Rod Strunk looked up, raised one hand and thanked God. Someone from the crowd shouted, "Rod, raise both your hands (for the benefit of the cameras)!" Without thinking, he acceded and what we saw on TV and in the papers was a Rod Strunk with both hands raised in jubilation. Medel, who confirmed what most of us suspected, retreated. But did it reverse the conviction of Rod Strunk in the public court? No.

"Did you see his photo with his hands raised? Doesn’t it make him look even more guilty?" asked my friend. I found myself nodding, afraid to disagree. After all, I was a vocal member of the public jury.

But at that point, I was starting to doubt myself. Task Force Marsha appeared to have made a mockery of the Nida Blanca investigation and I could not even say that to my friend. Shame on me. Questions bugged my mind. What did the police do? Who is Medel? Who is Mike Martinez? Who killed Nida Blanca? Only then did I realize that I had thought Rod Strunk was guilty but I forgot to ask who he killed. It was back to zero. God help us, I found myself saying. I know we’re not getting what we ought to know. We are being fed a picture that is not real. We have been led to a scenario which was wrong. How sad. How scary.

The legendary Nida Blanca was stabbed 13 times. Injustice killed her. Not Rod Strunk.

Lea’s PICC concert

It is refreshing to know that Lea Salonga, after brilliantly portraying Catherine in the commercial and critical successful Proof, a straight non-musical play which runs until Jan. 27 at the GSIS Theater, is doing a musical concert before she leaves for the United States. Titled Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert, the show is slated on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the PICC Plenary Hall. The concert will have Lea singing an all-Broadway repertoire lifted from some of the most endearing Broadway musicales such as Maybe/Tomorrow from Annie, Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease, Someone Like You from Jekyll and Hyde, Fallin’ from They’re Playing Our Song, Love Look Away from Flower Drum Song, Too Much for One Heart from Miss Saigon, Someone to Watch Over Me from Crazy for You, Maybe This Time from Cabaret, On My Own from Les Miserables, People from Funny Girl and many more.

Joining Lea in this exciting musical outing are Michael de Mesa, Calvin Millado, Carlo Orosa and the 60-piece San Miguel Foundation Pops Orchesrtra with her brother Gerard as musical director. Bobby Garcia of Rent and Proof fame directs.

Tickets to Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert are priced at P3,000, P2,500, P1,800, P1,200, P900 and P600 and are now available at all Ticketworld outlets.