Nida case decision out next week – DOJ

The family of murdered actress Nida Blanca may soon be given justice after the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicated yesterday that the panel investigating the case will be coming out with its decision next week.

Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong told reporters in his weekly press conference that he was informed by Justice Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez that a resolution is forthcoming.

"Undersecretary Gutierrez whispered to me that we might have a resolution on that next week," he said. Datumanong added he is expecting Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño to brief him on the case today.

"He promised to give me the full and latest information on the case," he explained. The Blanca murder case is being handled by Senior State Prosecutor Archimedes Manabat and State Prosecutors Mark Jalandoni and Aida Macapagal.

The DOJ panel is expected to resolve whether it will uphold the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, which counted Blanca’s American husband Rod Lawrence Strunk and alleged killer Philip Medel Jr. as among the suspects, or dismiss the case altogether due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Blanca, Dorothy Jones in real life, was found dead in November 2001 at the Atlanta Building in Greenhills, San Juan. The NBI is eyeing Strunk’s perceived inheritance as the motive for the killing, after witnesses claimed Strunk and Medel knew each other, an allegation both men denied.

Strunk left the Philippines in January 2002 and is now in California after immigration agents failed to hold his departure as there have been no charges filed against him in court. – Delon Porcalla