Testimonies in Blanca case inconsistent

Several inconsistencies in the testimony of about 12 witnesses has emerged although this will not prevent the arrest this week of the four major suspects in the murder of the actress Nida Blanca on November 7, said investigator Nestorio Gualberto.

The statement came ahead of Blanca's funeral today at Marikina's Loyola Memorial Park. Blanca's family has called for privacy during the early morning mass before the funeral.

Investigators are looking for anyone who can explain why the actress was wearing a black dress when she was found dead at eight in the morning, in the backseat of her car in Atlanta Condominium in Greenhills, suburban San June on November 7.

She was wearing a floral dress when she left the office of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRC) in the same building at five in the afternoon of November 6.

Investigators are also obtaining the testimony of a male witness who came out on radio saying he was driving when he saw what happened to the actress while she was in another car at around two or three in the morning of November 7.

Those who could be implicated were those who were with the actress at the casino in suburban Paranaque, a source said. Video tapes at the casino showed they were with her from nine in the evening of November 5 to two in the morning of November 6.

Another source said investigators have looked into the alleged involvement of Blanca's two friends, Candelaria Ortiz Tantoco and Sylvia Ortiz Santos who have filed an 'estafa' complaint against Marilyn Sese alias Anette Ryan before the Pasay City Prosecutor's office two months ago.

Tantoco and Santos accused Sese of making them pay $ 8,823 (P 450,000) for the processing of their applications for British visas, including their seven other friends.

The processing fee for each visa was supposedly worth $ 980 (P 50,000) per person. Sese allegedly disappeared after the pay-up last July, according to the case information sheet.

Tantoco and Santos said Blanca was a go-between in their transaction with Sese. On November 5, Tantoco and Santos asked the Pasay court to immediately issue an arrest warrant for Sese.

The warrant was issued two days after Blanca was found dead. Tantoco used to serve as a part-time driver of Blanca.

There were other witnesses who said they saw Blanca with her friends at the casino from nine to midnight of November 6, and not on November 5 as attested by the video tapes of the casino, said Gualberto.

Investigators have centred their probe on the witnesses from the casino. One of them, Tantoco, also said the actress was not at the casino on November 5.

Investigators also took the testimony of a woman witness who earlier appeared on television using the name Purple.

She said she saw the actress trying to leave her friends at the casino on the midnight of November 6.

"She even said she wanted to get back to her car at the 6th floor of Atlanta Condominium," said the witness whose face was not shown on TV. Sources said she would be a major key in solving Blanca's gruesome murder.

The investigators also gave weight to the statement of Blanca's nephew, Noel de la Paz, who received information from a casino security guard that Blanca was supposedly seen playing 'pai gao' (Chinese poker) at the casino on the night of November 6.

"Why should we cover up?" protested a casino official, when asked about the inconsistency of the tapes and the testimonies of gamblers and a casino security guard.

The surveillance video-tapes showed that Blanca and her friends were at the casino from nine in the evening of November 5 to two in the morning of November 6, not on the evening of November 6 as stated by some witnesses.

The security tapes on November 6 to 7 in the morning were hazy; they appeared to have been edited, and showed only the hands of the players and the card dealers, said Gualberto.

Autopsy reports said the actress died at two in the morning of November 6, six hours after her body was found at the back of her car which was at the parking space of a condominium building in Greenhills, suburban San Juan.