New NBI chief vows 'no special treatment' for Lacson

Former Police General Magtanggol Gatdula formally assumed leadership of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday and accepted the challenge to go after his former boss, fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson. At the turnover ceremonies at the NBI compound in Manila, Gatdula said there would be no kid-gloves treatment for Lacson, who was his former head at the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). The anti-crime unit was implicated in the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito. In his speech, Gatdula assured the public that he would follow President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima's orders to be impartial in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. He also vowed to serve the warrant of arrest for Lacson, alleged to be the mastermind in the killings. "This is Magtanggol Gatdula, not Panfilo Lacson. The President and the secretary have spoken. Who am I to go against their orders? I promise to our secretary and our President, I am a team player. Instructions to follow the rule of law will be done by all members of the bureau," he said. "There will be no special treatment. I accept the challenge," Gatdula later told reporters the day after Lacson's camp said the senator will not pull strings at the NBI despite his past ties with Gatdula. Prove mettle In her address during the turnover ceremonies, De Lima urged the NBI, with Gatdula now at its helm, to prove its mettle especially in "bringing fugitives to custody." "The next few months will be crucial for us to prove that we are real proponents of reform," she added. "We don't favor the powerful; we don't favor the wealthy; we don't favor the well-connected." She added that the NBI must be fair to everyone: street vendors or senators. The NBI is the lead agency hunting for Lacson, who fled the country in January before the Department of Justice (DOJ) could indict him for the Dacer-Corbito killings before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. The International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol has issued a Red Notice for the arrest of Lacson after it was tapped by the NBI for help in the search for the fugitive senator, who was last reported having been seen in Rome and may have spent the past months hiding in Europe. Gatdula belongs to Philippine Military Academy Class of 1976. He was deputy chief for administration of PAOCTF, which Lacson led when he was still a police officer. –VVP/VS, GMANews.TV