DOJ ORDER: CONTINUE MANHUNT FOR PING/FUGITIVE SENATOR SLAMS DOJ ORDER
[PHOTO AT LEFT - Senator Ping Lacson delivering his Privilege Speech, September 14, 2009]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 6, 2011 (STAR) By Helen Flores - The manhunt for fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson continues despite the dismissal of the double murder case against him by the Court of Appeals (CA), Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday.
The Bureau of Immigration also said the senator remains on its watchlist until the CA issues an order dropping him from the list.
At the Senate, ethics committee chairman Alan Peter Cayetano said the CA decision would not have any effect on the ethics case against Lacson.
"Our position is the warrant of arrest is still subsisting and that manhunt is still also ongoing," De Lima told reporters.
"Unless there is a categorical pronouncement in the dispositive portion of the Court of Appeals resolution that the nullification and setting aside of the warrant of arrest is immediately final and executory, I don't think they can claim that it's immediately lifted," she said.
The DOJ chief said that as soon as she receives a copy of the CA ruling, she would "evaluate it properly to guide us on the next step."
"We have several options: it's either that we file a motion for reconsideration within the 15-day period, otherwise it will be final and executory, and if the motion is denied, we can elevate it to the Supreme Court, or we can do away with that and just go for re-investigation," De Lima said.
"If the main ruling may be subject to appeal, then the consequent portion to nullify the warrant of arrest may also be appealed unless there is a categorical decision or the regional trial court lifts that," she said.
The CA dismissed on Thursday the double murder case against Lacson in connection with the killing of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000, citing numerous contradictions in the testimonies of key witness Cesar Mancao.
In an 80-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr., the CA's Special Sixth Division also quashed the arrest warrant for the senator.
In its decision, the court also granted Lacson's petition to annul the warrants for his arrest issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 18 last year.
Still in watchlist
Acting Immigration Commissioner Ronaldo Ledesma, for his part, said a CA order is needed before Lacson can be removed from the travel watchlist.
"If the lifting of the watchlist is included in the CA's order, then we would scratch off the name of Sen. Lacson from our watchlist," Ledesma said.
"As of now we have not received an official copy of the CA's decision. There should be an order coming from the CA or a court instructing us to remove the senator's name from our watchlist. Without the order, we would not remove his name from the watchlist," he said.
The BI chief also said he has no information on the whereabouts of Lacson. But he said based on a recorded CCTV image at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the senator left the country in January last year.
"I have no information that he already returned. It is difficult on my part to determine if he has returned to the country," he said.
Meanwhile, Cayetano said the CA decision would not have any effect on the ethics complaint against Lacson.
"They're different cases and there are different courses of action. I'd like to assure the senators that they will always be given a fair trial and due process in the Senate," Cayetano said.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) filed an ethics case against Lacson for his failure to surrender himself to authorities or attend Senate session following the issuance of a warrant of arrest against him.
The VACC said Lacson may be guilty of abandoning office and violating Presidential Decree 1829 or the obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.
"I'd like to assure those who filed (complaints) that no one is above the law, even in the Senate," Cayetano said.
The committee has yet to take up the complaint but he said he can easily start hearing the case as soon as the rules have been discussed and agreed upon.
No more arrest warrant
For Lacson's lawyer, there is no more legal basis for the arrest warrant for the senator, contrary to De Lima's pronouncements.
"The nullification of the arrest warrants is immediately executory and enforceable, regardless of any motion for reconsideration or appeal which may be filed by the other parties," lawyer Alex Poblador said in an interview.
Poblador said the only way for a warrant to have any effect is when petitioners are able to secure a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court.
The family of Dacer as well as principal witness Cesar Mancao are planning to file a motion for reconsideration on the CA ruling.
"Let them file their motion," Poblador said.
He argued that even if a motion for reconsideration has been filed, Lacson can not be arrested.
Poblador emphasized that a review of a case by the Supreme Court in response to a motion for reconsideration is "not a matter of right, but of sound judicial discretion" based on the Rules of Court.
"If he is arrested, I will advise that we file charges of arbitrary detention, illegal arrest and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," Poblador said.
He said he has not gotten in touch with the senator since the CA's issuance of its decision.
"Since the arrest warrants against Sen. Lacson have already been nullified, there is no more basis to deprive him of his liberty," he said.
Palace hands off
Although perceived as being close to Lacson, Malacañang denied it had a hand in the CA's junking of the double murder case against the senator.
"Clearly, from the very start, (there is nothing like that). If (the Palace had a hand), Sen. Lacson would have been freed a long time ago. You have seen the actuations of (Justice) Secretary Leila de Lima. She believed that (Lacson should be held liable), in fact, there was a petition (by the senator's lawyers), motion to reinvestigate, she denied that," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
"This government is committed to due process and also, you know that our relationship with the judiciary is not exactly that warm and fuzzy. So this was, if ever the CA decided, it was based on the arguments of the counsel of Sen.Lacson," Lacierda said.
On rumors that Lacson would be offered a position in the Aquino administration, Lacierda said the senator has not even surfaced yet "so we are not in a position to comment either way on that."
"He (President Aquino) could not comment on it because he has not seen the decision, so it's too early to tell," he said.
"We don't know yet what will be the final and executory decision of the Court of Appeals because it's not yet final and executory. So until we see the reckoning date, we will have to wait on whether the President would even consider that. There is no such study at the moment," Lacierda said.
Lacierda said Lacson is expected to surface once the decision dropping the criminal case against him becomes final. He denied accusations that the administration did not exhaust all means to arrest the fugitive senator.
"That's natural (for Lacson to finally come out), you have an order, you have a decision from the CA nullifying the warrant of arrest. Obviously, once it is nullified the natural reaction of the person is to surface. It's not because of this government's effort or the lack of it," Lacierda said.
Lacierda said De Lima was making sure that justice would be served, hence her denial of the motion for reinvestigation.
"But, again, the decision of the Court of Appeals was a decision done by the judiciary itself. We were just as surprised that there was this kind of decision," Lacierda said.
"The issue of whether he will surface or not is purely the decision of Sen. Lacson, if he chooses to do so. It's not within our powers to ask him to come out," he pointed out.
"If and when he decides to appear, to surface, that would be entirely his own. Remember that the decision is not yet final. There is a period to file a motion for reconsideration. As to when, we don't know when he will come out," Lacierda said.
"We believe that the full resources of the government were used in trying to locate Sen. Lacson. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Secretary Leila de Lima expressed frustration over the lack of leads to locate Sen. Lacson," he said.
"We do not believe that we were remiss in our duties," Lacierda said.
Meanwhile, former Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz appealed yesterday to Lacson to resurface and prove that his reason for hiding was his distrust of authorities' handling of his case.
"It is time to come out because according to him (Lacson) he would not appear unless he sees justice in the handling of his case and I agree," Cruz said.
He said Lacson's resurfacing would "establish the truth such that his innocence will come to fore."
He said that while he may be worried about his security, Lacson "is not a man who you can easily fool around and he knows much about intelligence and how it works."
Lacson is a staunch anti-jueteng campaigner, an advocacy he shared with Cruz.
"As usual our justice system moves more slowly than a turtle so it took that long to decide on those matters notwithstanding the supposed evidence given by Mr. Cesar Mancao who changes his statement as often as he changes his clothing," Cruz said.
"The propensity of Cesar Mancao to contradict himself under oath is further manifested in his statements denying any knowledge or information on the existence of the so-called 'special operations.' In his counter affidavit dated June 21, 2001 and in his affidavit dated March 1, 207, he (Mancao) never mentioned or implicated Lacson in the so-called 'special operations'," the CA said. With Sandy Araneta, Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte-Felipe
Ping slams DOJ manhunt order By Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) Updated February 06, 2011 12:00 AM
[Photo - Sen. Panfilo Lacson was accused as principal in the murders of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.]
Fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday slammed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for insisting on the warrant for his arrest even after the Court of Appeals (CA) had ruled otherwise.
Lacson broke his silence two days after the CA ruled that the warrant of arrest against him in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case was without legal basis.
In a statement sent to media by e-mail, Lacson said De Lima is trying "to confuse the public with her flawed and ill-advised legal opinion" in insisting on the warrant of arrest.
Lacson said he and his family "have suffered long enough for a crime I did not commit."
"It is hitting below the intellect but is inflicting the damage that some of her prosecutors have intended to achieve to cover up for their malicious prosecution," he added.
The CA on Thursday ordered the dismissal of the cases against Lacson and revocation of the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Manila Regional Trial Court.
Lacson's lawyers said the CA ruling would allow the senator to come out after being in hiding for more than a year.
De Lima had insisted the CA ruling is not yet final and executory and thus the arrest warrant still exists.
Lacson accused De Lima of misinterpreting the CA ruling and overstepping her authority.
"Secretary Leila de Lima should stop using brute reason in interpreting the Court of Appeals ruling dismissing the case against me, which she claimed she has not even read," Lacson said.
"Let me remind her that in a civil and common law system like ours, the hierarchy of courts places the Supreme Court at the highest level and is therefore the sole authority to reverse the Court of Appeals in its ruling and decision, not any of the lower courts of the land and certainly not the Secretary of Justice," he added.
Even though the dismissal of the case is not yet final because of the appeals process, Lacson said the warrant of arrest against him was already nullified by the CA and should be complied with.
"The appellate court has ruled that there is no probable cause to indict me for two counts of murder and categorically nullified the warrant of arrest that the Manila RTC branch 18 issued against me. De Lima cannot place herself above any court of law. Otherwise, the justice system becomes defective and worse, will self-destruct," he said.
De Lima said the warrant of arrest on Lacson continues until officially revoked by the court.
De Lima said the CA decision dismissing the charges against Lacson can still be appealed, hence the decision is not yet final and executory.
"Our position is that the warrant of arrest is still subsisting. That's why I was bent on implementing the arrest warrant. (It is still) effective," she said.
De Lima said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into filing a motion for reconsideration at the CA as one of the legal remedies of the government, hoping that the decision dropping the two murder charges against Lacson would be reversed.
De Lima said the government should file the motion within 15 days after the decision came out, otherwise it would become final.
"It's either we file an MR (motion for reconsideration) within the 15-day period, otherwise it will be final and executory. And if the MR is denied (by the CA), this (case) could be elevated to the Supreme Court," she said.
Another option, De Lima added, is to move for a reinvestigation of the case.
De Lima said that unless there is a categorical statement in the decision that it is final and executory, or if the Manila RTC revokes the warrant of arrest, the manhunt against Lacson would continue.
And if the DOJ has to reinvestigate the case, De Lima lamented they would have to go back to square one.
"It's difficult since the case of Lacson has a political dimension which cannot be avoided by the public to think about... the political angle is different from the legal and justice system. That's why I stood pat on the implementation of the arrest warrant," De Lima said.
Comply with the order
Malacañang, on the other hand, said the DOJ would comply with the order of the court to stop the manhunt on Lacson in the event the ruling becomes final and executory.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said there is nothing irregular in the CA decision to dismiss the double murder case against Lacson.
"I'm sure as soon as our DOJ gets that order of lifting the warrant then they will comply with that. What Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is saying is that they have yet to formally receive the decision of the Court of Appeals dismissing the case of Senator Lacson. But as soon as they do that, I'm sure that the DOJ will comply with all the legal requirements," Carandang said.
Carandang said Malacañang was not involved in the CA decision.
"We've seen that in many of the actions of this administration that have been struck down by the Supreme Court. So we cannot say that we have influence over the judiciary at this point. So I think they can be assured that whatever court cases are resolved, we do not meddle in them," Carandang said.
He said the CA decision would have to be followed despite the grievances of the family of the slain publicist.
"I understand how they feel. On my part, I don't want to make any judgment about the case of Sen. Lacson at this point...I guess they'll just have to make their arguments before the court," Carandang said.
Carandang refused to comment on statements that Lacson should still be sanctioned for evading arrest.
Sen. Francis Escudero, for his part, said De Lima was "technically correct" in her argument about the warrant of arrest against Lacson.
Escudero, however, emphasized De Lima cannot set aside the CA ruling on the case.
"Technically she (De Lima) is correct, but the RTC which issued the warrant as well as the police also cannot ignore the CA decision, although not yet final, quashing the warrant," Escudero said.
"At the very least, (they) should encourage Sen. Lacson to come out and have faith in the justice system," he added. - With Aurea Calica, Sandy Araneta
Dacer family 'extremely disappointed' over CA ruling By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star) Updated February 05, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (17)
MANILA, Philippines - The daughters of slain publicist Salvador Dacer are "deeply saddened and extremely disappointed" by the Court of Appeal (CA)'s exoneration of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the alleged mastermind in the murders of their father and his driver more than a decade ago.
"We will work with our lawyers to study other legal remedies that we have and we will proceed from there," a statement from the Dacer sisters read as they vowed to contest the CA ruling issued last Thursday.
MANILA, Philippines - Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito were snatched at gunpoint in broad daylight on Osmeña Highway in November 2000. Their charred remains were later found in Cavite.
"I was in communication with Carina Dacer only now. Needless to say, the Dacer family, to use her words, is extremely disappointed with the ruling of the Court of Appeals," lawyer Demetrio Custodio, representing the Dacer family, said in a press briefing.
Custodio said they are now considering two legal remedies – the filing of a motion for reconsideration or "go to the Supreme Court (SC) on a direct action citing abuse on the part of the Court of Appeals."
He also said the arrest order issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court against Lacson is still in effect.
"The warrant of arrest was issued by the regional trial court and in obvious recognition of the validity of the warrant of arrest, Sen. Lacson went into hiding knowing that the warrant of arrest will be effected or will be served," Custodio said.
"Insofar as I am concerned, because the Resolution of the Court of Appeals has not yet attained finality, which is to say that you can still question it and the possibility of it being reversed is still there, it cannot yet be implemented," he said.
"Until and unless it attains finality, and by that we mean all the way up to the Supreme Court, that Resolution will simply just be a Resolution and will have no effect as far as the warrant of arrest is concerned," he stressed.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman Dante Jimenez said Lacson should be man enough to "face the music."
Custodio said the CA may have committed a mistake because it was supposed to rule only on probable cause and not on the entire case.
If the Dacer family would opt to go directly to the SC to question the ruling, he said the action would be on "whether or not it was correct for the CA to appreciate the testimony of Mr. Mancao and brand it as incredible." He was referring to former police officer Cesar Mancao, the principal witness against Lacson.
Another prosecution lawyer Ferdinand Topacio also said Lacson is not yet off the hook because the CA ruling is not yet final and executory.
He stressed that the credibility of witnesses and the weight of evidence are determined during trial and not through papers or documents submitted to the CA.
Topacio said Mancao was not even given the chance to explain the supposed discrepancies or inconsistencies in his two affidavits.
"What's so funny is that the CA has cleared someone who has never appeared in court because he is in hiding," Topacio said referring to the fugitive senator.
He said the CA, in deciding Lacson's claim that there was grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Manila RTC which issued the arrest warrant, "itself committed grave abuse of discretion" by junking the finding of probable cause by two Department of Justice secretaries and two lower court judges.
Topacio called the ruling "katakataka" (incredible), saying it was very rare for findings of probable cause to be reversed considering the presence of testimonial evidence and physical evidence against the accused.
Topacio also accused Malacañang of coddling Lacson, judging from its lack of effort to locate the senator.
"It's just that Sen. Lacson belongs to the privileged few who, in trying to seek exoneration, does not want to be incarcerated and does not want to honor the processes of law by submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the court," said Topacio.
He said the Aquino government has been offering rewards left and right for the capture of people like those who bombed a bus on EDSA but not for Lacson.
Topacio said the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government even declared that "the police do not need a reward to do their jobs" in the case of Lacson.
"What's the proof that Malacañang is coddling Lacson? There is no offer of reward for his capture, but for the rest there is," he said.
Topacio said President Aquino even guaranteed the senator a fair trial when there is no need to because everybody is supposed to be entitled to a fair trial.
"Here you can see the distortion of our sense of values. There are many faces of the law in the Aquino administration," he said.
"There is a benign and benevolent face for those allied with the government – they are given amnesty. But there is cruel face for its foes," he said.
"The very agencies that are supposed to care for the people are bending over backwards to accommodate those who are influential and powerful," Topacio said.
Setback
"The news was a setback to all our efforts to seek justice for the brutal murders of our father and Awel Corbito. We will work with our lawyers to study other legal remedies that we have and we will proceed from there," Carina Dacer said.
"I know a lot of people want to ask questions about how we feel and I apologize to all those who have called and emailed asking for our reaction that we have not responded to," Carina, who is in New York, added.
"After more than 10 years of seeking justice, our case is no longer a murder case which has affected only our family, the family of Awel Corbito, the families of the men still in jail and the families of everyone who has been involved in its resolution. Our father's and Awel's deaths and our fight to continue to find justice show the sorry state of crime and punishment in the Philippines and the unchanged pace of the wheels of justice in the country," she said.
But she said that they are hopeful "that one day, somewhere, justice will still be served."
The other Dacer daughters are Sabina Dacer-Reyes, Amparo Dacer-Henson and Emily Dacer-Hungerford. With Sandy Araneta
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