"Isa pang kasama ni Medel kumanta…"

SA PAGPAPATULOY NG MGA KAGANAPAN SA KASO NG NIDA BLANCA MURDER, ISANG TESTIGO, DATING CAPTAIN NG PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY ANG NAGBIGAY NG KANYANG PAHAYAG TUNGKOL SA NALALAMAN NIYA SA MISTERYONG BUMABALOT SA PAGKAPATAY SA PRIMYADONG ACTRESS. SIYA SI PEDRO PATES, JR., NG ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Nais kong ilathala naman ang kanyang Salaysay para inyong mabasa.

I, PEDRO PATES JR y Arante, a Filipino citizen of legal age, married, a former member of the PC, AFP holding the rank of Captain, and a resident of V & G Subdivision, Tacloban City, after having been duly sworn to, depose and state:

1. Sometime last week of June 2001, my cousin Imelda Bendigo rang my cell phone and told me that she hired a certain Gen. Galileo Kintanar to locate and arrest the suspects in the killing of her son, Celzar Bendigo, and his two companions and the wounding of another sometime in 2001 in Barangay Wague, Leyte, Leyte, by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by the Metropolitan Trial Court, and that Gen. Kintanar was going to proceed to Tacloban City to personally discuss the matter with me.

2. Gen. Kintanar personally supervised the operation of the arrest of the said suspects from June to October 2001. But on 16, 2001, upon the request of Imelda Bendigo, I secured a certified true copy of the warrant of arrest of Wilfredo Uyvico at the office of CIDG, Tacloban City, after which she instructed me to take the Manila-bound 2:00 o’clock afternoon flight of Cebu Pacific Air to deliver the warrant of arrest to her lawyer Atty. Delano Tecson.

3. Upon the invitation of Gen. Kintanar, I stayed in his residence in Quezon City from October 18 to November 5, 2001 so that we could monitor developments in the arrest of Wilfredo Uyvico who was turned-over to the CIDG by P/Supt Cuaton.

4. While at the residence of Gen. Kintanar, I occupied the room vacated by one Philip Medel and one Engr. Dodong Polinar, who according to Rogelio Salutin, a security guard detailed at the Kintanar residence, both stayed there for more than six (6) months.

5. At about 10:00 o’clock in the morning of October 20, 2001, Philip Medel, Jr, and Engr. Dodong Polinar arrived at the Kintanar residence. Philip Medel introduced Engr. Polinar to me as a member of PMA Class ’76, which I soon found out as false when he answered in the negative if he knew Gen Jesus Verzosa. Minutes later, one Cherry Cobarrubias and her daughter and four others arrived and held a meeting with Gen. Kintanar inside his office along with Philip Medel, Dodong Polinar, Mike Martinez, a foreigner (and his son ?) and another woman.

6. I excused myself from attending the meeting and instead went to Cubao, where I bought some clothing. By at about 5:00 in the afternoon when I returned, the people who attended said meeting had all gone except for Gen. Kintanar.

7. Sometime October 18, 2001, I met one Nilo Gonzaga and his employer, the late Rolly Kintanar at the residence of Gen Kintanar, then Nilo Gonzaga asked me if I was going to join the KINDSAS, INC. offered me as operations manager.

8. On October 25, 2001, I was invited by Nilo Gonzaga to proceed to his rented room at the Sideco Apartments located at No. 9-3 Kamias Road, Q.C. where I met Philip Medel and Engr. Dodong Polinar were also occupying the same room.

9. In the afternoon of October 25, 2001, upon his invitation, I visited Nilo Gonzaga at his rented room at Sedeco Apartments located at No. 9-3 Kamias Road, Quezon City, as I was also interested in his offer to occupy the room of Philip Medel and Engr. Dodong Polinar who were then planning to transfer to another area. While there, Philip Medel joined us in our conversations and asked me whether I knew someone who could be in a job apparently to kill someone (actor/actress) and which he termed as as "pera-pera lang". I told pointblank that I did not know anone and then asked him why would he not ask Nilo Gonzaga about it since they had been staying in Manila for quite sometime already.

10. Our conversation was interrupted when Philip Medel’s cell phone, which was charging near the table where we were gathered, rang. We overheard Philip Medel answer his cell phone saying: "Hi, Rod . . Don’t worry, don’t worry, time will come. Yeah, yeah".

11. When I asked Philip Medel who was the guy he talked to, he answered: "A foreigner, my friend."

12. On November 5, 2001, I flew back to Tacloban City with my cousin Imelda Bendigo and her husband Dr. Paul Bendigo. In the morning of November 8, 2001, Nilo Gonzaga informed me through my cell phone about the murder of Nida Blanca. Instinctively, I immediately told him to observe Philip Medel and reminded him of our past conversations wherein he told us that he was looking for a guy capable of killing a movie personality. So, when I read in the newspaper about Rod Strunk, an American, as the husband of Nida Blanca, I called up Nilo Gonzaga several times to monitor Philip Medel and observe him in his room.

13. As a consequence of the Nida Blanca murder, I immediately went back to Manila. At about 7:30 in the evening of November 13, 2001, while at their rented place at the Sideco Apartments, Philip Medel arrived and looking disturbed. I even jokingly cautioned him to take care as there were some persons conducting surveillance on him, to which he snapped back that he was not worried for he could manage and handle them.

14. Also while at their said rented apartment on November 18, 2001, Nilo Gonzaga divulged to me that Philip Medel confessed to the killing of Nida Blanca and that he had all ready negotiated with the PNP-CIDG for Medel’s voluntary surrender.

SI ANDRADA "ANJI" DALANDAS, ANG PRIME WITNESS SA NIDA BLANCA CASE AY HUMARAP NA SA 3 MAN PANEL NG PROSECUTION AT SUMAILALIM SA ISANG CLARIFICATORY QUESTIONING MULA SA MGA ABOGADO NG MGA RESPONDENTS.

Ibabalita ko rin sa inyo ang mga nangyari nung araw na yun ayon na rin sa kanyang accounts. Si Mariz Canonio, yung kasama ni Anji nung gabing inihatid siya sa Atlanta ay sasailalim bukas sa Department of Justice para tanunging din ng mga clarificatory questions.

ABANGAN ang EXCLUSIVE na mga detalye dito lamang sa "CALVENTO FILES" sa PSNGAYON at sa PM.

PARA SA ANUMANG COMMENTS O REACTIONS, MAARI KAYONG MAGTEXT SA 09213263166. MAARI DIN KAYONG TUMAWAG SA 7788442.