The night before, I was told that I was scheduled to interview CIDG chief Nestorio Gualberto in his office in Camp Crame at 9 a.m. of Friday. Well, I didn’t think that was a good idea since Philip Medel was scheduled to appear at the Department of Justice that same morning at 9:30. I knew that with his DOJ appearance, there would be new stories and angles to pursue and that whatever information I get from Director Gualberto that morning would immediately be stale and old as yesterday’s bread.
I expressed my apprehensions regarding this matter to the Startalk people, but – the powerless person that I am there – I had no choice but to show up for the interview.
So on Thursday, evening, at close to midnight, I had to rush my Philippine STAR column for the paper’s Saturday edition because I wouldn’t have time to work on that the following day. I only got to sleep at 5 a.m. because every time I have an early morning appointment, I get anxiety attacks –afraid I wouldn’t be able to wake up on time.
Before 8 a.m., I was already up and ready to go to Camp Crame. At the lobby of the CIDG building at around 9 a.m., I saw the GMA-7 news crew headed by reporter Mariz Umali setting up their equipment. Apparently, they’ve been quartered there since the slaying of Nida Blanca early this month.
At a little past 9, I was already seated face to face with Director Gualberto in his office. He proved to be very accommodating, polite and very courteous toward our crew.
But only halfway through the interview, his secretary, Vilma, came barging into his office. Nagwawala po si Medel sa DOJ! She cried out to him. Bayaan mo siyang magwala, was his calm response.
In less than a minute, his cell phone started ringing and this prompted him to check what was going on at the DOJ by switching to the news on television.
After watching Medel’s histrionics, he turned to me and said that he wasn’t at all surprised that Medel retracted his statements. "Obviously, it has already dawned on him what’s going to happen to him," Gualberto said in a tone that was cool, calm and collected.
From Camp Crame, I proceeded to the Platinum 2000 Building in Greenhills where Maria Teresa Carlson committed suicide by jumping from the 23rd floor. When I reached the place, I saw Lei Alviz and Kara David, both from GMA News. Later, Dindo Amparo of ABS-CBN joined our group. Unfortunately, the management of Platinum 2000 barred media from entering its premises.
We were all trying to figure out a way to get in, but the guards posted at the entrance saw to it that we didn’t even get near the lobby. (Actually, I had an easier time getting inside Atlanta Center during the time Nida Blanca’s dead body was found there.)
Kara David then saw a billboard advertising a spa owned by singer Miriam Pantig. For a while there, we thought of pretending to be clients of the spa just to be able to get inside the building. But we eventually dropped the idea because were sure the guards wouldn’t buy this anymore since they already saw us with our cameras.
When it became clear that we wouldn’t be allowed inside Platinum anymore. I decided to proceed to the Loyola Memorial Chapels in Guadalupe where Carlson’s body was brought. Never mind if I’ve been told earlier that media was also barred from the premises.
At the Loyola Memorial Chapels, I discovered to my frustration that Carlson’s body had already been airlifted to Laoag City a few minutes before I arrived. Since I needed a story, I decided to locate the mortician and the person who went to get Carlson’s body at Platinum. I know this sounds morbid, but this was part of the job.
From the Loyola people, I got a description of how Maria Teresa Carlson’s body looked like when it was found on the top of the air vent in Platinum 2000, but I’m no longer discussing the details here because these are way too gory.
During the interview, I found out that the funeral package for Carlson costs P700,000-and this included the casket (in pink hues) and the use of the premiere chapel, plus other services. The premiere chapel, however, was never used (even if it had already been paid for as part of the package) because Carlson was made to lie in state in Laoag City. (She will be laid to rest on Saturday.)
From Loyola, I went to a couple of police stations in San Juan to look for people investigating the case, while another crew proceeded to Camp Crame to get the autopsy report on Maria Teresa Carlson’s death.
Last stop was my interview with Carmi Martin who spoke fondly of her best friend.
Maria. Of course, Carmi was tiptoeing through his statements and was very careful not to besmirch the reputation of the Farinas couple. And that was understandable. As a friend, Carmi remained very loyal up to Maria Teresa Carlson’s last breath.
Looking back at that day’s work, I realized that I’ve become quite insensitive even toward delicate matters such as death. But then, I guess there’s no other way to get to the bottom of the story. In fact, media had been criticized harshly by some sectors for intruding too much on the Nida Blanca slay case and now, on the suicide of Maria Teresa Carlson. But then, without media being vigilant on both cases, the mysterious death of both Nida and Maria – believe me – would most likely just end up gathering dust in the police files.