DOJ reviewing Nida case documents

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is reviewing all documents in connection with the murder of actress Nida Blanca as the government attempts for a second time to seek the extradition of her American husband Roger Lawrence Strunk to face trial here.

Gonzalez took over from Merceditas Gutierrez, who headed the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the first attempt to extradite Strunk.

"Sec. Gonzalez is reviewing all the documents before another request for an extradition is re-filed. The matter is now with the DOJ and not with us or with the National Bureau of Investigation," said Harriet Demetriou, lawyer for the Blanca family.

Under the extradition treaty between the Philippines and the US, the requesting state, represented by the justice department, will only give documents to the requested state, whose prosecutors will present to a district court judge to determine probable cause to extradite its citizen.

Demetriou said she believes Gonzalez, who used to be a trial lawyer before he became a lawmaker and DOJ chief, could help further strengthen the government’s case against Strunk.

She is hopeful that the second extradition request of the Philippine government will get a favorable ruling this time. The first attempt failed after a US district judge ruled the evidence presented was not enough to warrant the extradition of the accused.

Meanwhile, the Northern Isabela Security Agency, which employed the three security guards named as witnesses in the case, denied that it has not been cooperating with authorities as earlier claimed by the NBI.

Lawyer Eldorado Lim, the owner and manager of the agency, said that during the entire investigation process conducted by the NBI, he personally accompanied the three guards to meet investigators.

"NBI agents later went to our office and full cooperation was extended by us," he said. "After the preliminary investigation was conducted and concluded, we never received any subpoena or notice requiring us to present the guards. No one even called our office for inquiry as to their location.

Lim pointed out that the guards are not hostile witnesses since they attended all the hearings and were eventually cleared of obstruction of justice charges.

He stressed that his wife, prosecutor Zenaida Lim, has been cooperating with the investigation team.

"She has not been informed of any need for the guards and she completely supports the agency’s stand to fully cooperate in the investigation for the speedy resolution of the murder case," he said.

To dispel the notion that the guards are in hiding, Lim will present the three guards before the DOJ and NBI as soon as possible. – Cecille Suerte Felipe