NBI probers eye Nida Blanca’s assets as motive for her murder

The National Bureau of Investigation will look deeper into the assets of murdered actress Nida Blanca as investigators zero-in on money and property as the most probable motives for the crime.

According to Ric Diaz, NBI spokesman for the case, they want to know if Blanca had managed to acquire additional property prior to her death.

"Five years ago, her assets were worth about P5 million. We want to know if she has other assets and how much her assets are now worth," said Diaz.

Meanwhile, the NBI hinted that taxi driver Ruel de Lumen will most likely be dropped as a witness after he failed to pinpoint the house inside the White Plains Subdivision where he allegedly dropped three women in the early morning of Jan. 7, the same day Blanca was found dead at the Atlanta Center building.

De Lumen, 31, driver of an Agip taxicab, claimed to have ferried three women from the Robinson’s Galleria in Pasig to the subdivision on the day Blanca was found dead.

According to Diaz, the descriptions given by De Lumen of his three female passengers were rather vague and that the subdivision security guard on duty at the time he allegedly entered the subdivision had no record of his vehicle’s entrance.

De Lumen pointed to the house of sports official Butch Tuason as the alleged address where the three women allegedly got-off his cab. But investigators were quick to dismiss Tuason’s possible involvement in the case.

Diaz added that the bloodstains found on the backseat of De Lumen’s cab did not also match Blanca’s blood type.

"We are still not letting him go but he is lying to us most probably," said Diaz.

Diaz said investigators are now focusing their efforts on the new lead in the case involving the "abnormal’ exchanges of cellular phone calls between two "prominent" people who were known to Blanca in the hours that the late actress was already missing.

According to Diaz, investigation showed that the two persons, whom Diaz refused to identify, exchanged cellular phone calls between 9 p.m. of Nov. 6 and 4 a.m. of Nov. 7.

Diaz added that the two people, who had "abnormal" cellular phone calls, have not been investigated either by the NBI or the police.

"These two people have not yet been investigated by the NBI or the police. This is a totally new angle that still needs to be developed. We still need to find out where this lead will take us. At the moment this is still meaningless but why would they make the calls at the time Nida was already missing?" said Diaz.

"We have now enlisted the help of a mobile phone company to help us analyze these numbers and the calls made. We have to have sufficient holdings before we can even begin to question them," Diaz said. Nida’s own cellular phone bill records will also be scrutinized by investigators, the NBI said.

As these developed, Diaz said the NBI has no legal holdings to prevent Rod Strunk, Blanca’s husband from leaving for the United States to visit his ailing mother.

"As far as we are concerned, we have no legal right to block his travel to the United States. However, should he be needed here in the Philippines, we can always get him back. Besides, his lawyers have assured that he (Strunk) is willing to face the charges against him," Diaz said.