‘Ang pagpapakamatay ni Strunk...’

Part V

NUNG Biyernes sa nakaraang artikulo sinabi ni Elena de la Paz na hindi siya nagpupunta sa MTRCB noong ika-6 ng Nobyembre 2001 sa pagitan ng alas-5 ng hapon hanggang alas-6 ng gabi gaya ng sinasabi ng isa sa mga testigo, si Rannie Francisco dahil ang katotohanan daw nito ay alas-11 hanggang alas-11:30 ng gabi siya pumunta dito kasama ang mag-asawang Noel at Bernardita dela Paz at ang anak nitong si Patrica.

Ayon pa kay Elena, hindi niya magagawang saktan o maisip na patayin si Nida Blanca dahil sa loob ng 45 na taong kasama niya ito. Kahit siya ay inaakusahan na isa sa mga pumaslang sa aktres handa pa rin siyang tumulong na mabigyan ng hustisya ang brutal na pagkakapaslang dito. Samantala si Chito Ponce Enrile naman ay madalas na bumisita sa bahay nina Nida sa White Plains dahil kaibigan ito ni Rod Strunk. Ayon sa kanila, Born-Again Christians ang mga ito kaya nagkakaroon ng Bible Study sa bahay nito.

 Tungkol naman sa Casino, sabi ni Elena, hindi raw mahilig magsugal si Nida. Nagpupunta lamang siya dito para samahan ang ina na maglaro sa slot machine. Taong 2001 nang mabanggit ni Nida kay Elena ang plano nitong pakikipaghiwalay kay Rod kapag hindi pa rin ito tumigil sa walang kabuluhang paglustay nito ng pera.

Ika-2 ng Nobyembre 2001 nang pumanaw ang kaibigan ni Nida na si Bong Eraña dahil sa sakit na cancer. Kasa-kasama ni Nida si Elena sa lamay ng kaibigan. Ika-5 ng Nobyembre 2001 ng alas-12:30 ng tanghali nang maabutan ni Elena si Nida na nakabihis na para sa pagpasok nito sa opisina. Sabi ni Elena ‘yun na ang huling araw na nakita niyang buhay ang aktres.

Narito ang karugtong ng Sinumpaang Salaysay ni Elena.

26. I called Nida at the MTRCB at 3:30 p.m. to in form her Tantoco’s unavailability. She said that it was alright if Tantoco would not be able to drive for us. At 4:00 p.m., I called her again to ask if it was alright if her friend Bernard Fernandez could come with us to mass.  She told me just to tell Fernan­dez to meet her at the MTRCB. I called up to inform Fernandez of Nida’s decision and he told me that he will just meet Nida at her house in White Plains. I tried to call Nida again to inform her of Fernandez’s decision, but to no avail as the person who answered my call told me that Nida was already about to leave;

27. Fernandez arrived at Nida’s house at 4:30 p.m. We waited in the room of Nida’s mother and watched T.V. At   5:00 p.m. Nida was not yet at home. I thought that she was just caught up in the traffic. At 5:30 p.m.  Nida had still not arrived. I began to worry. Fernandez told me that he will go ahead because he might be late for mass. I did not go with him because I thought that Nida will arrive soon and that she might get mad if I left without her. I escorted Fernandez out and told Nida’s houseboy to help him find a taxi;

28. At around 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Nida was still not yet at home. I started to call Nida’s close friends. I first tried to call Gina Pareño on her cellular phone, but to no avail. I also called Carmen Solis, the sister   of Charito Solis, but the former was not able to attend the mass because allegedly her car was unavailable due to the MMDA’s color coding schedule. I also called Inday, the secretary of Totoy Avellana, but she was not able to attend the mass. I also called Fernandez, but he also was not able to attend the mass. I also called Fernandez, but he also was not able to attend the same due to the heavy traffic;

 29. I told Rod Strunk that Nida had still not arrived yet and that Nida failed to attend the mass offering for Bong Eraña. He did not react. He did not say anything. At 11:00 p.m. I called up Nida’s niece, Ditas San Jose Dela Paz and her husband Noel dela Paz and their daughter, Patricia Dela Paz and they fetched me to go to the MTRCB. Strunk did not go with us because Ditas told him not to bother as Nida might just call home already;

30. Immediately thereafter, when we arrived in Atlanta, we asked about the whereabouts of Nida and one of Atlanta’s security guards told us that he had already left while another security guard told us that her car was still parked at the 6th floor. I asked the security guard of Atlanta to go to the 6th floor to check if Nida’s car was still there. He answered in the affirmative. Thereafter, we decided to go back home to tell Strunk of said fact;

31.While Strunk, Ditas and Noel were talking, I tried to look for a telephone book of Nida’s co-workers at the MTRCB inside her room in her house. Noel told us, including Strunk, that he was able to talk to someone from the Casino Filipino Parañaque City who told him that they saw Nida thereat at Table 11 at 11:00 p.m. Our fears were somewhat allayed, thus Ditas, Noel and Patricia went home;

32. I stayed behind and went upstairs to my room. Ditas and I continued to text   each other. At around 2:30 a.m., I went downstairs to see Strunk. I saw him just sitting around. I told him again that I am still worried about Nida. He was the one who told me that he personally went to Atlanta and saw Nida’s car but that she was  not there;

33. I told Strunk that he had a duplicate copy of Nida’s car keys and asked him why he did not open her car door. He said that allegedly the key of Nida’s Nissan Sentra car was still attached to the ignition switch of the Vannette Strunk was driving then and that he did not turn off the engine because the parking area was dark. I asked Strunk how he was able to go to the parking area of Atlanta. He answered that there was no guard thereat;

34. On November 7 at 6:00 AM, I called Dingding Tantoco and told her that Nida did not come home. Tantoco had no car so I told Strunk to bring me to Tantoco’s house. Thereafter, Tantoco and I went to Casino Filipino in Paranaque City to inquire about Nida. The staff of said casino however denied seeing Nida;

Abangan sa Miyerkules ang huling bahagi ng Sinumpaang Salaysay ni Elena de la Paz, eksklusibo dito lamang sa “CALVENTO FILES SA PS NGAYON.

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