Prosecutors want 3 more Nida slay suspects charged

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended yesterday the filing of murder charges against three more people involved in the Nov. 7, 2001 murder of actress Nida Blanca.

The three-man panel, led by Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon, recommended to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez the filing of charges against businessman Mike Martinez as principal accused, Blanca’s longtime aide Elena de la Paz as accomplice, and former military intelligence chief Galileo Kintanar as accessory to the crime.

Fadullon’s panel also recommended the dismissal of the complaint against one Bernardita de la Paz.

"Considering the quantum and quality of evidence needed to support a finding of probable cause and taking into account the settled jurisprudence on the defenses raised to challenge the inculpatory evidence against respondents. We hold that the evidence on record is sufficient to meet the requirement of a prima facie case against respondents," Fadullon said.

He said they found the clear evidence on the culpability of Martinez from his failure to submit a counter-affidavit and his non-appearance before the panel on any of the scheduled preliminary investigation or clarificatory questioning of witnesses.

Fadullon said they recommended the inclusion of the three in the pending case before the Pasig Regional Trial Court based on the testimony of eyewitness Andrada Dalandas.

Dalandas claimed she saw Blanca’s husband Rod Strunk, alleged killer Philip Medel and Martinez gang up on Blanca in the early morning of Nov. 7, 2001, at the 6th-floor parking area of the Atlanta Centre on Annapolis street in Greenhills, San Juan.

She said the three men carried Blanca’s body from a van to her car, a green Nissan Sentra."The incriminatory statement of Andrada Dalandas remains unrebutted coupled with the circumstantial averment of another witness who saw respondent Martinez and two others in the company of Blanca around the time that the actress was reported to have departed from Atlanta Centre and a few hours before she went missing," Fadullon said.

Fadullon said they found no reason why Dalandas would implicate a stranger like Martinez.

He said that Kintanar, who has been accused of having commissioned Medel to conduct a surveillance on Blanca a few weeks before the murder, has merely met all the damaging allegations against him with a general denial.

"The panel is of the belief that respondent Kintanar’s denial and evasive answer is no eloquent attestation of his non-involvement in the imputed offense. It is not only one witness who associated him with accused Medel and Strunk and who gave testimony regarding his extremely unusual and highly suspicious alarm over the death of Nida Blanca and the repercussion of accused Medel’s voluntary surrender. All these statements taken together give more reason to doubt his declared inculpability," Fadullon said.

He said that it is also unmistakable that Kintanar had long known Strunk and Medel, not only by reason of his consultancy venture, but also by reason of his knowledge of the crime committed.

‘Not enough’

Kaye Torres, daughter of the slain actress, and her laywer Harriet Demetriou, expressed disappointment over the decision of Fadullon’s group to indict Kintanar merely as an accessory to the crime.

"Kintanar was the one who bought the car used by Medel. He is a principal to the crime," Demetriou said.

She asked Gonzalez to immediately create a new panel to conduct the preliminary investigation on the four-year-old Blanca slay and dissolve Fadullon’s panel.

"We will definitely file a motion for reconsideration and I am asking Secretary Gonzalez to prevent a further travesty of justice. The panel must be dissolved," Demetriou said.

For her part, Torres said that she was not totally satisfied with the resolution of Fadullon’s panel.

"I will continue to fight for what I believe is right," Torres said.

Fadullon, however, said he believes they have done their job well.

"Our resolution was based on evidence submitted to us. We will not always be able to satisfy everyone because in every case there will be persons who will lose and there will be others who will win," Fadullon said.

The other members of the DOJ panel are State Prosecutors Melvin Abad and Olivia Non.