Parricide charges vs Strunk dropped

It’s back to square one for the police.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped yesterday parricide charges against the husband of slain actress Nida Blanca, as well as the murder case lodged against confessed killer Philip Medel Jr. and his alleged accomplice.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez told reporters that the cases were referred back to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for "further investigation."

However, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño asserted that the decision was tantamount to a dismissal of the cases.

"It’s as good as dismissed. It’s back to square one for the police investigators. It’s up to the National Bureau of Investigation to release Medel. He can be released unless there are other reasons for his detention," Zuño said.

However, Medel reportedly refused to get out of the NBI’s protective custody for security reasons.

"Following the dismissal of the case, he is now free to leave our custody. However, he chose not to leave citing security reasons," said lawyer Ric Diaz, spokesman for the Blanca investigation.

He clarified that insofar as the DOJ is concerned, widower Rod Lauren Strunk, Medel and Mike Martinez were no longer considered as suspects.

"If ever they will raffle the case, it will be another docket number. The case is no longer with the DOJ," Zuño said.

In a four-page resolution, State Prosecutors Emmanuel Velasco and Irwin Maraya referred the case back to the PNP "without prejudice to the result of the ongoing investigation being conducted on Medel and the Nov. 7 murder of Blanca."

DOJ sources said as a matter of procedure, prosecutors are allowed to remand a case to the police only after they have filed a motion for further investigation, which was not done in the Blanca case. Otherwise, the prosecutors should either dismiss or file the case in court.

The sources said Perez recommended that the case be referred back to the PNP to enable the institution to rebuilt its image damaged by Medel’s retraction of his confession, which led to the dismissal of charges.

Medel recanted as Velasco and Maraya were poised to conduct preliminary investigation of the suspect’s admission that he took part in the slaying of Blanca and tagged Strunk as the mastermind.

In an outburst of emotion, Medel tore up his confession, claiming he was abducted and tortured by the police to admit the crime.

In his 10-page testimony, Medel pointed to Strunk as the brains behind the murder.

He also said he was recruited to join the slay plot by Martinez, an alleged business associate.

Medel underwent a polygraph test following neuro-psychiatric examinations conducted on him by the NBI.

Psychiatrists said they would not have allowed Medel to take the lie detector test if he did not pass the neuro-psychiatric tests.

Smarting from the dismissal of the charges, the PNP vowed to gather more evidence to buttress their case against Medel.

"We will consolidate additional evidence. Medel is not yet off the hook," PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Crescencio Maralit said.

Senior Superintendent Jesus Versoza, deputy chief of Task Force Marsha created specifically to handle the probe in the Blanca slaying, also said they were not giving up in solving the crime, in coordination with the NBI which has taken over the lead role in the probe.

The PNP hierarchy reiterated its claim that Medel was not tortured into admitting the crime.

PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza said the criminal investigation and detection group, which handled the investigation, has submitted to him an "incident report" detailing the events surrounding Medel’s voluntary surrender and subsequent issuance of his confession, as well as the possible causes of the handcuff marks and abrasions on his ankles.

"We can only speculate that he (Medel) was making up these allegations (of kidnapping and torture) because despite the many vital information he has provided for the investigation, he remains to be a principal suspect," Mendoza said.

Meanwhile, police reported that a corpse found in a cornfield in Tanauan town in Batangas was not that of Martinez, who was reportedly kidnapped last Nov. 19. — With Mike Frialde, Christina Mendez