LAWMAKERS REJECT DE LIMA'S PROPOSAL FOR LACSON HOUSE ARREST
PHOTO - STILL IN HIDING, Senator Panfilo Lacson]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 21, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) BY RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH REPORTER - LAWMAKERS over the weekend opposed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima's proposal to place fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson under house arrest.
According to Representatives Rodel Batocabe of Ako Bicol party-list and Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao, the Justice secretary should concentrate on prosecuting Lacson and supervising the conduct of an "honest-to-goodness" manhunt for the senator instead of interfering with a legal decision which is under the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals.
"It is not for the DOJ [Department of Justice] to decide the manner of detention of Lacson because such is vested on the courts which is in this case, the CA [appellate court]," Batocabe said.
He added that de Lima's proposal is "legally flawed" since a person arrested for the alleged commission of a heinous crime should be put in jail.
Datumanong, meanwhile, said that the Justice department should be ready for the protest of the victims' relatives who might feel shortchanged by de Lima's opinion.
Rep. Ignacio Arroyo of Negros Occidental, moreover, noted that the department should be reminded that until the warrant of arrest issued against Lacson is lifted, de Lima should still consider him a fugitive of justice.
In addition, Rep. Mitos Magsaysay of Zambales aired doubts that the government is serious in trying to arrest Lacson. "It's very strange that with the intelligence fund that government has, they can't even find him. The government has a lot of explaining to do as to why they are inutile to find Senator Lacson," Magsaysay said.
Upon de Lima's appointment as Justice secretary last year, she immediately ordered an extensive manhunt for Lacson. Double murder charges were filed against Lacson on January last year for allegedly masterminding the killings of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Branch 18 of the Regional Trial Court of Manila issued a decision subsequent to the filing of the charges declaring that there was probable cause for the issuance of warrants of arrest against Lacson.
Earlier this month, however, the sixth division of the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the Regional Trial Court and cleared Lacson of any involvement in the cited killings on account of inconsistencies in the testimonies of the senator's former aide, Cezar Mancao 2nd.
Subsequently, Dacer's daughters filed a motion for reconsideration before the appellate court on Friday.
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
