Kay chides sloppy PNP probe of case

The police could have done a better job.

Katherine "Kay" Torres, only child of slain movie actress Nida Blanca, scored the Philippine National Police (PNP) for its sloppy handling of the investigation of her mother’s murder, adding the case is far from being solved.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. defended, however, the police investigation, saying the retraction by suspect Philip Medel Jr. did not affect his confession.

Sounding disgusted at the result of the investigation, Torres cast doubts on the credibility of the probe conducted by the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), but expressed full trust and confidence in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which has taken custody of Medel.

"I am giving the NBI a free hand in conducting its own investigation, and to use all its efforts and resources in its command to identify the killers of my mom and bring them swiftly to justice," Torres told a press conference held at the barangay hall of White Plains subdivision in Quezon City.

She appealed to the public to help in the early solution of the murder by texting vital information that could lead to the identification and arrest of the killers through cellphone no. 0917-846-6432.

"I believe that no one should be spared from further investigation, and such investigation must be conducted with a higher level of efficiency and accuracy," Torres said in apparent reaction to Medel’s retraction of his confession.

She said she was not surprised by Medel’s withdrawal of his affidavit during last Friday’s preliminary investigation.

Asked what should be the role of the PNP-led Task Force Marsha created specifically to investigate the case, Torres said she does not know anything about the arrangements. "I’m not at liberty to make comment on the case. I’m here to appeal to the public for justice for my mom and that is my main objective."

She also said she was not surprised that Medel recanted his admission that he was instrumental in the murder of Blanca on Nov. 7.

She was also noncommittal regarding an appeal by her stepfather, Rod Lauren Strunk, to junk the murder case filed against him following Medel’s retraction.

"It depends on the outcome of the investigation," Torres said.

Unfazed by the setback suffered by Task Force Marsha which he formed, PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza said they will pursue their investigation of the celebrated murder case.

Director Nestorio Gualberto, head of the task force, viewed Medel’s retraction as a "temporary setback."

"We have a very strong case against him," Gualberto said.

He surmised that Medel had a sudden change of heart after learning that he was being cited as a principal suspect in the murder case, not as a state witness.

Strunk, who arrived at the DOJ after Medel’s hysterics, called the retraction a divine answer to his prayers.

‘All the aces’

PNP chief for community relations Director Thompson Lantion said Strunk has no reason to rejoice because he is not yet off the hook.

"We have all the aces to pin him down," Lantion said.

He said Medel’s recantation "in a dramatic manner" did not affect their investigation

He clarified that Medel’s original testimony admitting his having stabbed Blanca, was substantiated with physical and documentary evidence gathered by the police at the crime scene, while his retraction was mere alibi and denial of everything he had admitted.

Meanwhile, Lina directed the National Police Commission to create a fact-finding panel that will inquire into Medel’s charges that he was tortured by the CIDG agents into admitting that he took part in the murder.

Lina warned that if Medel’s charges were proven to be factual, those involved in the torture would face disciplinary sanctions, including possible dismissal from the service.

"We will not allow any coverup in the investigation of the alleged torture because the PNP’s credibility is at stake here," Lina said.

He noted, however, that the recanted statement of a suspect in a heinous crime cannot nullify a confession unless it is proven that there was irregularity in the police investigation of the case.

"Our presumption was that the investigation was correct so we presented Medel to the media, and this presumption can only be rebutted if there was indeed torture or harassment or coercion against the suspect," Lina said in his weekly radio program.

He added that it is now up to state prosecutors whether to accept the case filed by the police.

This developed as Task Force Marsha, in a bid to dispute Medel’s accusations, presented video clips showing him peacefully giving himself up to policemen who fetched him at his rented apartment in Kamias, Quezon City, as well as those taken while he was writing down his confession at the CIDG offices at Camp Crame.

In a related development, opposition Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta urged law enforcers to refrain from presenting criminal suspects to media before formal charges have been filed against them.

In a statement, Oreta said "heads should roll once it is proven that Medel had indeed been tortured by lawmen."

To prevent a repetition of Friday’s fiasco at the DOJ, Oreta called on her colleagues to support Senate Bill 874 barring law enforcers from presenting to the media arrested suspects who have not been formally charged in court.

During Friday’s preliminary investigation of the murder case by the Department of Justice, Medel suddenly threw a tantrum, slamming tables, fainting and crying that he was tortured by the police into admitting the crime.

He also tore up his handwritten confession, claiming he could not drag innocent people to his grave, apparently referring to Blanca’s American husband of 22 years, whom he had implicated as the brains behind murder.

Medel’s wife, Sorvenia Arbee, viewed his retraction as a "will of God."

Interviewed by the Freeman News Service in Mandaue City, Sorvenia said she felt bitter and had lost faith in God when he owned up to the killing, but added she was happy and relieved by the turn of events.

The lifeless body of Blanca, born Dorothy Jones to an American serviceman and a Filipina mother, was found in the backseat of her Nissan Sentra car parked at the sixth floor parking lot of the Atlanta Centre in Greenhills, San Juan where she also worked as a director of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board. — With reports from Non Alquitran, Marichu Villanueva, Charlie Lagasca, Freeman News Service