VACC files ethics complaint vs Lacson

An anti-crime group on Tuesday filed an ethics complaint against Senator Panfilo Lacson, who has a pending warrant of arrest in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. In a 14-page complaint, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) wants Lacson to be investigated by the Senate panel for his failure to surrender himself to proper authorities; fleeing the country to evade arrest; and his continued absence from the Senate sessions. The VACC said Lacson may be guilty of abandoning office and violating Presidential Decree 1829 or the obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders, which are both penal offenses. "[He is] setting a bad example to the people and tainting the prestige of the Senate. He is also depriving the people of representation in the Senate," the VACC said in its petition filed with the Senate committee on ethics and privileges, which incidentally, was previously chaired by Lacson. Lacson is alleged as the principal suspect in the killing of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. At the time, Lacson was concurrent head of the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the unit implicated in the twin murders. Lacson fled the country on Jan. 5, 2010, two days before the Department of Justice – then headed by Agnes Devanadera – filed two counts of murder against him before Branch 18 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. A month later, the court issued an arrest warrant against him. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already canceled his regular and diplomatic passports on the grounds that he is a "fugitive from justice" as provided by the Philippine Passport Act of 1996. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV