NBI still looking for suspect in Nida Blanca slay

A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official said yesterday they remain committed to looking for the third suspect in the murder of actress Nida Blanca on Nov. 6, 2001.

Deputy Director for Intelligence Services Ruel Lasala, who has recently been promoted to head the bureau’s intelligence division, said he will mobilize all the assets under his office to revive the search for Mike Martinez, who remains at large.

“We still believe that even after all these years… Martinez is still hiding somewhere in Metro Manila. We would not stop our search until he is brought before the bar of justice,” he said.

Lasala also called on the public to coordinate with the NBI if they have any information on Martinez’s whereabouts.

Philip Medel Jr., supposedly one of the two “hired killers” suspected by the police and the NBI, said Blanca’s husband, Rod Strunk, contracted him through Martinez to torture the actress into producing a document related to her will.

A witness allegedly saw Martinez as one of those who emerged from a van in the parking area of the Atlanta Center building in Greenhills, San Juan in the early morning of Nov. 7, 2001, carrying Blanca’s body from the vehicle.

Blanca’s body was found in her car at the Atlanta Center’s parking area that same day.

Strunk has committed suicide earlier this year while Medel is still in jail, facing trial for Blanca’s murder.   – Evelyn Macairan