Lacson protégé seeks US court's protection vs RP govt

Former police offer Michael Ray Aquino has filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus with a United States court, according to information reaching the Philippine justice department. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, however, said this could be just part of Aquino’s tactic to delay his extradition. Aquino is a principal suspect in the November 2000 murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. “This is in effect opposing the extradition. I am guessing that this is dilatory tactic because even if the extradition becomes final and executory, Aquino cannot still be extradited because there is a pending habeas corpus," he said Wednesday. Blancaflor said Aquino cited persecution by the Arroyo administration as reason for his petition. He expressed confidence that despite the petition, Aquino would be extradited back to the Philippines to face the charges against him. “They [Aquino’s camp] raised the same arguments like political persecution and other things," Blancaflor said. While still serving time in the US for an espionage case, the US District Court of New Jersey in Newark approved the government’s request for Aquino’s extradition. Aquino’s co-accused in the case is his former superior in the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). The two were also members of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) during the Ramos administration. Lacson fled the country last January 5, a day before he was indicted by the Manila Regional Trial Court for the Dacer-Corbito case. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has sought the assistance of the International Police to locate his whereabouts. Lacson, an opposition senator, has repeatedly denied involvement in the Dacer-Corbito case. Blancaflor said the US Justice Department on behalf of the Philippine justice department is set to oppose Aquino’s petition. He said the government attaché in the US is still determining whether Aquino filed his habeas corpus case with the same court that granted the extradition or to another court. - KBK, GMANews.TV