NBI grills taxi driver on Blanca case

The National Bureau of Investigation yesterday started its investigation of the taxi driver who allegedly ferried three women to the house of murdered actress Nida Blanca inside the posh White Plains Subdivision last Nov. 7.

Investigators said driver Ruel de Lumen, 31, native of Batangas City could provide the key to finally solve the case.

De Lumen told investigators that the three women flagged him down at the Robinson’s Galleria in Ortigas, Pasig (not at the Atlanta Center as previously reported) at about 2 a.m. or just hours before the body of Blanca was discovered at the sixth floor parking area of the Atlanta Center.

He said the three women asked him to bring them inside the White Plains Subdivision. De Lumen and his family are now in the custody of the NBI.

But NBI investigators are also looking at the possibility that the three women were not really going to Blanca’s house at 28 Nathan St. but to a nearby house inside the subdivision.

"When the taxi driver was accosted by the (subdivision) gate guard, he said he was going to bring his passengers to 28 Nathan St., Blanca’s residence. (But) it is possible he may have dropped them off a few meters from the house," said NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco.

Wycoco added the NBI is still trying to retrace the taxi driver’s route, to see if the driver dropped off the passengers at Blanca’s house or if he went "a little further."

"He brought them to an address near Blanca’s home. We now have the taxi driver who supposedly ferried the three women early morning of Nov. 7," he said.

According to Wycoco, agents working on the case described one of the three passengers as "tomboyish-looking," and another as "resembling a helper." The third was described as 16 years old. Wycoco said the NBI is still in the process of identifying them.

Meanwhile, according to Wycoco, initial tests showed that the blood stains found in De Lumen’s taxi (Agip Transport with plate number PVK-714) did not match Blanca’s blood type.

But Wycoco added that the stains will still be subjected to a DNA test that may take as long as two weeks to finish. — Mike Frialde