MANILA, APRIL 1, 2011 (TIMES) AFTER 14 months as a fugitive, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson faced the media on Monday to answer how and why he evaded an arrest warrant that was issued in connection with a double-murder case. The senator lashed out at the government, saying that he was not treated fairly by the people of his erstwhile friend and Senate colleague, President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino 3rd. Sen. Lacson was referring to the efforts of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima to have him arrested and brought to court where he could answer the charges brought forward by the Dacer family.
The gall of Sen. Lacson is, to say the least, disappointing for an honorable member of the Upper Chamber. If he were a true friend of President Aquino, the lawmaker should have trusted his former Senate colleague to help him get a fair trial. Instead, Sen. Lacson decided to flee, unilaterally dismissing the authority of a regional trial court to judge the evidence against him and his testimony refuting them. If he were a true friend of the Palace, Sen. Lacson should not have embarrassed President Aquino and made his appointees appear incompetent in tracking him and ineffective in executing the law.
If Sen. Lacson were a real friend, he would not put the President in a compromising situation where people think that he surfaced just in time for the impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
President Aquino has targeted her as the prime obstacle to his goal of eradicating graft and corruption. But it seems that the real obstacle is someone like Sen. Lacson who ducks and hides from the law. Unlike other people, though, Sen. Lacson occupies one of the most powerful and influential elected posts in the country. Not only that, he was once the chief enforcer of the law as director general of the Philippine National Police and was also head of the preeminent anti-crime task force under another former friend, then President Joseph Estrada.
Unfortunately for Sen. Lacson, it is his earlier association with former President Estrada that now has him in trouble. The Dacers allege, according to their lawyer, that the murders of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito about a decade ago was an operation of the police task force that Mr. Lacson headed. Of course, the senator denies this. Apparently acting as judge and jury, he seems to regard any evidence implicating him as false or even fabricated—as in the testimony of his former lieutenant Cezar Mancao 2nd.
Granted, our legal system assures that a man is innocent until proven guilty. But that does not give Sen. Lacson the right to ignore the authority of the courts to have him questioned under oath about the murders by the lawyer of the Dacers.
At his press conference, Sen. Lacson was adamant in saying that it would be an injustice for an innocent person to be jailed for a crime he did not commit. We agree. But we also believe that it is an injustice to make a mockery of the legal system, especially when a powerful senator reputed to have friends at the Palace enjoys privileges not accorded to ordinary Filipinos.
An even greater injustice, still, is to deny the Dacers and Corbitos closure of the case. If indeed Sen. Lacson has evidence refuting the charges against him, why deny that information to the survivors of the murder victims? If Sen. Lacson is so sure of his proof of innocence, why does he not want it examined in a court of law?
In addition to these questions, which need to be heard in the courtroom, Sen. Lacson also has to answer the queries about why he ran from the law. Another injustice would be to ignore that Sen. Lacson broke the law by becoming a fugitive, ignored simply because he is a senator and a friend of President Aquino.
NEWS REPORT FROM MANILA TIMES
DOJ dares Lacson to name killers By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
THE Department of Justice and the family of Salvador Dacer on Wednesday challenged Sen. Panfilo Lacson to "spill the beans" by unmasking the mastermind behind the murder of Dacer and the slain publicist's driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that if Lacson claims that he is a victim of injustice and that he is not behind the killing of Dacer and Corbito, the senator should shed light on the double-murder case. She was reacting to what Lacson said during a Monday press conference at the Senate, where the senator disclosed that he knows who was behind the killing of Dacer and Corbito.
De Lima said that Lacson should now cooperate in the resolution of the case to also clear his name.
"At this point, I like to challenge or appeal to Lacson, kasi sabi n'ya sa presscon na [because he told in a press conference] that he knows as to who is the real brains, the real mastermind. Why, he doesn't he tell us. Sabi niya wala siyang ebidesnya [He said he does not have evidence] please tell us. Tell us and we will pursue it vigorously whatever that lead is basta sabihin niya [for as long as he tells us]. That's my challenge now," she added.
De Lima admitted that she is in a bind on whether to pursue a reinvestigation of the Dacer-Corbito case or file an appeal before the Supreme Court.
"If the Supreme Court affirms the Court of Appeals, magre-reinvestigate pa rin kami. Mago-order pa rin ako ng reinvestigation kasi nga walang closure [If the Supreme Court affirms the ruling of the Court of Appeals, we will still reinvestigate the case. I will order a reinvestigation to put a closure to the case]," she said.
The Justice secretary added that the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case is not weak, with witness Cezar Mancao standing firm in his testimony that Lacson was involved.
De Lima said that the Justice department had found probable cause in the case.
Mancao was one of the men of Lacson when the senator headed an anti-organized crime task force during the Estrada administration.
Lacson emerged from 13 months of hiding after the appellate court threatened de Lima that any order for his arrest and detention would be a ground for a criminal charge of arbitrary detention.
In a 16-page resolution of the appellate court's Special 16th Division, the arrest warrant issued against Lacson was lifted and that voided the indictment against the senator before the Regional Trial Court of Manila in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case.
The ruling was written by Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr. and was concurred in by Justices Juan Enriquez Jr. and Isaias Dicdican. It was issued on March 18, 2011.
The appellate court stressed that their ruling lifting the arrest warrant of Lacson was immediately executory unless they are restrained by the High Tribunal through a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order.
The appellate court order also resulted in denial of a motion for reconsideration filed by the government and Mancao for lack of merit.
Family demand The Dacer family dared Lacson to name the "real mastermind" in the killings of Dacer and Corbito, the family's lawyer said also on Wednesday.
Lawyer Demetrio Custodio Jr. said during a forum held at the National Press Club in Manila that they are challenging Lacson to reveal the real mastermind in the killings.
"He [Lacson] asked the Dacers to 'open their eyes' and to be not 'fixated' with the idea that he was the one behind the 2000 murders," Custodio added.
"Senator [Lacson], we only proceeded with the evidence presented to us, evidence that was available to us," he said, citing the statement of the Dacers.
Custodio added that the Dacer family understands that Lacson was "willing to cooperate with the family as long as he would not be pressured for help."
"He simply needs to give the victims the information he has, which he, in his prior Senate speech, seems to have," the lawyer said.
Lawyer Joemer Perez, one of the legal counsels of Lacson who was present during the same forum, refused to name the masterminds in the double murder because the senator is gathering strong evidence before making any revelation.
Lacson's lawyer said that the senator is open to the reinvestigation for as long as there is new evidence against him. With report from Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
