US court gives Erap, others 21 days on suit

CHICAGO — An American district court has given former Philippine president Joseph "Erap" Estrada, incumbent Senator Panfilo Lacson, and five other accused 21 days to respond to the $120-million civil suit filed against them by the daughters of slain publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer. The United States District Court for the Northern District California in San Francisco, through its Clerk of Court, issued summons against the accused to answer the charges. If they fail to respond, the court said, “judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. You also must file your answer or motion with the court." Aside from Estrada and Lacson, also named as accused were former BW president and chief executive officer Dante Tan, former head and CEO of the Philippine Games and Amusement Corp. (PAGCOR) Reynaldo Butch Tenorio, former police Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino, former police Supt. Glenn Dumlao, and former Chief Inspector Vicente Arnado. Last week, Carina Dacer, Sabrina Dacer-Reyes, Amparo Dacer-Henson and Emily Dacer-Hungerford filed their 19-page complaint asking for compensatory and punitive damages for the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, torture and extrajudicial killing of their father. They demanded at least $20 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit was based on the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act. The said statutes allow US courts to hear cases of human rights abuses brought by foreign citizens against officials of a foreign government for conduct committed anywhere in the world. The accused Estrada had since denied ordering the abduction and murder of Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, on Nov. 24, 2000. Reacting to news on the Dacer daughters' lawsuit, Estrada said he does not have the money to pay for the civil damages. Lacson, for his part, went into hiding in January this year. At the time of the killings, Lacson headed the Philippine National Police and the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Task Force, the unit implicated that allegedly carried out the murders. Tan had been missing since the aftermath of the BW stock manipulation scandal in 1999. Tenorio headed PAGCOR when Dacer and Corbito were killed. Aquino, Arnado, and Dumlao were Lacson's subordinates at the PAOCTF. Aquino's extradition proceedings are ongoing in the US, while Arnado remains missing. Dumlao returned to the country in July 2009 and is among the witnesses in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case pending at a Manila court. Court dates United States Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, who was assigned to preside over the case, set for Dec. 17, 2010 the “last day to meet and confer initial disclosures, early settlement, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and discovery plan." Spero also set for Dec. 31, 2010 the last day to file “report, complete initial disclosures or objection, report and file Case Management Statement." A case management conference will then be held in court on Jan. 7, 2011. —With Sophia Dedace/VS, GMANews.TV