Medel pleads ‘not guilty’ to murder rap

Philip Medel Jr., one of the principal accused in the killing of award-winning actress Nida Blanca, pleaded "not guilty" during an arraignment at the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Tuesday afternoon.

Medel was accompanied by a lawyer Salvador Panelo when he made the plea before Judge Alex Quiraz of Branch 156.

The next hearing on the Blanca’s case is set on June 3 at 9:30 a.m.

The arraignment of the other accused, Blanca’s American husband Rod Lawrence Strunk, has been delayed since the Department of Justice has yet to file a request for extradition with the US government.

Strunk left for California in January last year to attend to his ailing mother. The mother has since died but Strunk failed to return.

Blanca’s body was found inside her car on Nov. 7, 2001 at the parking lot of Atlanta Towers on Annapolis street in Greenhills, San Juan, where members of the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) hold office.

The veteran actress was serving as director of MTRCB at the time of her death.

Medel initially owned up to the killing of Blanca on the alleged orders of Strunk but he later retracted, claiming he was tortured by the police into admitting the slay.

Meanwhile, Medel’s lawyer said he is confident of getting an acquittal, saying the prosecution has no strong evidence to pin his client and Strunk.

"No reasonable court would convict Medel and Strunk with the weak evidence the prosecution had presented," Panelo told The STAR a day after Medel pleaded not guilty during his arraignment .

Panelo said prosecutors from the Department of Justice – Mark Jalandoni and Archimedes Manabat – are determined to nail Medel, whom the police claimed murdered Blanca using a Swiss knife.

He noted that Jalandoni and Manabat "acted as accuser and judge at the same time" for investigating and recommending filing of the murder case against Medel and Strunk.

"So to put an end to the obsession of the prosecutors, we opted to have the accused arraigned," Panelo said.

In filing the murder case, the prosecutors used as basis Medel’s confession that Strunk offered him P50,000 to kill Blanca, who allegedly disinherited her American husband.

Panelo assailed the prosecution for insisting on using his earlier confession despite his retraction. "Medel showed wounds on his knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, which were all indications of torture." – Sheila, Crisostomo, Cecille Suerte Felipe