In another setback to a three-year-old case, it was revealed that termites ate up vital documents for the extradition of American Roger Lawrence Strunk, husband and prime suspect in the November 2001 murder of actress Nida Blanca.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez admitted embarrassment yesterday in disclosing that termites had destroyed the case documents, including the original copy of the first petition for Strunk’s extradition filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the administration of acting Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez.
In a press conference, Gonzalez said he had asked Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo to include the Philippine government’s refiling of Strunk’s extradition as one of the talking points in Romulo’s scheduled meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The request to extradite Strunk was dismissed by the US court in a decision dated Nov. 12, 2003, principally because the evidence submitted by the Philippines concerning Strunk’s participation in the murder of Blanca was inconsistent and conflicting.
There was little competent evidence to support the conclusion that Strunk hired Philip Medel to murder Blanca, the US court said.
Gonzalez, however, said the US court also stated in its decision that "this is not to say that the Philippines could never make a case against Strunk should new, competent evidence be submitted."
It forgot to add: Unless termites get to it first.
The justice secretary said the Department of Foreign Affairs should solicit the support of the US Department of Justice in the filing of a new extradition case against the suspect "based on direct (eyewitness account), credible, consistent testimony of the three new witnesses, such as Andrada Dalandas, Fidelyn Canonio and Ranny Francisco, as well as the latest Court of Appeals decision finding probable cause against Strunk for the murder of Nida Blanca and which decision was upheld by the Supreme Court."
Meanwhile, Gonzalez said that Dina Tenala, former state counsel of the DOJ under Gutierrez’s administration, admitted to him that termites had destroyed the original copy of the first petition for Strunk’s extradition including the diskettes containing important information justifying the suspect’s return to the country.
Tenala, caretaker of the documents, has joined Gutierrez at the office of the presidential legal counsel.
"It was clear negligence on the part of the caretaker. I will try to reconstruct the documents and ask the US court to furnish us the original copies of the first extradition that the DOJ has filed prior to my assumption as Secretary of the DOJ. We will file a petition to reopen the extradition case against Strunk," Gonzalez said.
On Nov. 12, 2003, US magistrate Gregory Hollow denied "for insufficiency of evidence" the request of the Philippine government for the extradition of Strunk.
This prompted Gutierrez to request the assistance of the US government to help the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to analyze and evaluate the forensic evidence in the Nida Blanca murder case.
Blanca, Dorothy Jones in real life, was found murdered in the parking lot of the Atlanta Centre in San Juan town early in the morning of Nov. 7, 2001.