Dacer’s daughter expects Aquino to expedite justice for her father

The daughter of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer on Saturday expressed hope that under the new administration justice will be finally served for the death of her father and his driver Emmanuel Corbito a decade ago. Carina Dacer is pinning her hopes on President Benigno Aquino’s firsthand experience of injustice and on the new leadership at the Department of Justice (DOJ). "Alam kong alam niya ang pakiramdam ng isang taong hindi nabigyan ng hustisya (I know that he knows what it feels to be a victim of injustice)," Dacer said in a phone patch radio interview from the United States, where she has lived since his father’s death in November 2000. Dacer was referring to the still unsolved murder case of Aquino's father, the martyred Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino II in 1983. She remained hopeful that the wheels of justice would finally turn faster this time, especially after Mr. Aquino – in his speech last Wednesday – directed the Justice department to act swiftly on cases that the agency is pursuing. "Sana dahil sa marching orders, bumilis na ang kaso at matapos na. Kung wala kang [Sen. Panfilo Lacson] kasalanan babalik ka at harapin mo ang kaso," Dacer said. (Because of his marching orders, I am hoping the case gets solved faster. If Sen. Lacson was really innocent, he should return to the Philippines and face the charges against him) The senator has been in hiding since a court issued an order for his arrest after he was linked to the double-murder case. Newly installed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in her assumption speech on Friday, assured the public that the DOJ would prioritize high-profile cases like the Dacer-Corbito case. "Naniniwala akong magiging fair pa rin kayo [DOJ], under the Aquino administration. Sana magtutuluy-tuloy ito dahil sayang iyong information na nakuha na (I still believe the DOJ will be fair under the the Aquino administration. I hope the case continues so evidence gathered so far won't be wasted.)," Dacer said. In the same interview, Dacer expressed hopes that President Aquino would not allow Lacson to evade arrest. Lacson was said to have fled to Hong Kong a day before his arrest warrant was supposed to have been served. Despite several reports about his whereabouts after he made a stop in Hong Kong, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), a DOJ-attached agency tasked to collar the senator, has yet to locate him. "Hindi naman puwde tatakbo siya tapos bablik na lang 'pag gusto nya... He helped craft the laws of the land tapos siya mismo hindi naniniwala sa laws ng Pilipinas. Parang lokohan po iyon eh," Dacer said. (You can't just leave the country and return whenever you like. He helped craft the laws of the land, yet he himself does not believe in them. Are you fooling around with us?) She also made an appeal to Lacson's colleagues in the Senate: "Pakiusap ko na i-utos nila na sagutin niya iyong nakahain [I hope they order Lacson to answer the charges against him]." She also criticized Lacson, then chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), for not even making efforts to reach out to them, ever since the killings happened in 2000. "Kung ano man ang imbestigasyon na ginawa mo bilang hepe ng PNP, sana sabihin mo kasi in 10 years hindi niyo kami nilapitan (I hope you share with us the results of the investigation you conducted when you were still PNP chief. For 10 years now, you have yet to approach us.)," she said. No special treatment Aquino had already said even before his landslide win in the May 10 elections that unless the court recalls the arrest warrant against Lacson, the former PNP chief should be arrested. "Like any other citizen, he can expect the rule of law will be religiously observed. I will favor no one, but I will also not disparage him. Whatever his rights are will be upheld," Aquino had said. Lacson is known to be a close colleague of Aquino at the Senate. The two were on the same side of the fence when several senators chastised Senator Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. for his alleged use of influence to benefit from the controversial C-5 road extension project. Undue pressure There are currently two cases stemming from the twin killings. The trial proper for the first one is ongoing, while the second one is still in its pre-arraignment stages. Unlike the first case, the second one – filed by the Dacer sisters earlier this year – already included Lacson as a respondent. "Ang aming punterya ay iyong kaso kay Sen. Lacson (We are more focused on the case against Sen. Lacson)," Demetrio Custodio, legal counsel for the Dacers, said in a separate interview. Custodio blasted Lacson for putting "undue pressure" on Mr. Aquino when he [Lacson] supposedly expressed confidence that he could only surface if Aquino wins as president. "For him to say na puwede na siya lumitaw under the new administratin, ibig sabihin sinsabi niyang may pakialam ang executive sa judiciary kahit alam naman nating hiwalay ang dalawang sangay ng gobyerno," Custodio said. (For him to say that he can already return to the Philippines now that the administration has changed, he is implying that the executive can influence that judiciary when that should not be the case.) Lacson said he left the country because he felt the previous Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration was bent on pinning him down anyway, as he was perceived a staunch critic of Aquino's predecessor. No special favor But Lacson's legal spokesman, lawyer Alex Avisado, defended the senator and belied the Dacer camp's claim that he might ask Aquino to meddle in the case once he returns. "Wala pong inaasahan si Sen. Lacson na special favor dito sa bagong administration. Knowing Sen. Lacson, hindi rin po hihilingin ni Lacson kay President Aquino na makiaalam," he said. (Sen. Lacson does not expect any special favor from the new administration. Knowing Sen. Lacson, he would not also ask President Aquino to get involved in the case.) Avisado said that prosecution lawyers should be well aware that just like them, the defense also wanted the executive get their hands off the case and let the court settle the matter. When asked if the senator had already sent word that he would finally be returning to the Philippines, Avisado could only say: "Umaasa din po kami sa kampo ni Sen. Lacson na haharapin na niya itong kaso (We are also hoping that Sen. Lacson will face the case against him)." Custodio said the Dacer-Corbito case would test if Aquino meant it when he promised, in his inaugural speech, justice for everyone. "We are expecting that the Aquino administration will not lift a finger to help Sen. Lacson because this is exclusively a judicial matter," Custodio added. The Dacer lawyer also said even if Lacson was a senator, he should be be treated like a regular criminal suspect once he returns to the country. Custodio posed a warning if ever Lacson is not sent behind bars upon his return. "Kapag hindi po nangyari iyon, we will raise hell dahil the law is for everyone at pinapataw po iyon ng patas sa lahat," he said. New judge Earlier this month, the Dacer-Corbito double murder case was re-raffled to Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina. Judge Myra Garcia-Fernandez, who used to preside over the case, was appointed early this year to the Court of Appeals. In taking over the case, Bunyi-Medina pointed out to prosecutors what she thought was a "procedural lapse" on their part for filing "double murder charges." The judge said charges filed should have been "two counts of murder" since Dacer and Corbito were killed in two separate acts. A double murder charge, she added, pertains to a killing through a single act, like in a bomb explosion. “We have to determine first if the information filed is correct. The question here is if it would sustain the allegation of conspiracy because of a procedural lapse," Bunyi-Medina said. — Mark D. Merueñas / LBG, GMANews.TV