De Lima 'embarrassed' Lacson's whereabouts still unknown

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima admitted on Tuesday that she is "embarrassed" that the National Bureau of Investigation has not yet tracked down fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is charged for the double murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. At a news briefing, De Lima expressed dismay that Lacson's whereabouts remain unknown even if the government has exhausted all means to locate Lacson and limit his movements. These include having the Department of Foreign Affairs cancel Lacson's passports and placing the senator under the International Criminal Police Organization's (Interpol) Red Notice. "I am really embarrassed. It's embarrassing because nobody knows where he is. I have information, but I cannot disclose it. I keep on telling [the] NBI, 'What are we doing?'" said De Lima. The NBI is an attached agency of the DOJ. "The things we have done already — the Red Notice from the Interpol, the cancellation of the passport — but no development whatsoever," she added. Lacson fled the country on Jan. 5, 2010, two days before the DOJ, then under the leadership of Agnes Devanadera, filed two counts of murder against him at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. A month later, the court issued a warrant of arrest against Lacson, who had asked the court to reconsider the issuance and order the DOJ to review his case. Instead, the court upheld the issuance of the arrest warrant and denied Lacson's plea for a reinvestigation. The court also directed the NBI to improve to improve its efforts in locating Lacson and the DFA to help limit Lacson's movements. Lacson, through his lawyers in the Philippines, has elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals, which is yet to rule on his plea. On Tuesday, De Lima said it is possible that Lacson could just be hiding in the country. "The possibility that he's inside the country cannot be ruled out," she said. Review of Lacson case She also revealed that President Benigno Aquino III earlier directed her to review Lacson's case in the matter of the senator's "plea for the reinvestigation of the case." De Lima did not disclose the results of her review or the time Aquino told her to conduct the review. Asked whether Lacson could also apply for amnesty from the President, De Lima said it still has to be determined whether Lacson is implicated in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case because of political reasons. "Theoretically, anyone who claims his case is a political offense can always apply for amnesty. But that is something that we need to further assess, if that is really a political offense. What we know is that two people were killed," she said. Refusal to be arrested De Lima likewise said that based on the information coming from the senator's allies, Lacson does not want to be arrested "because he would abhor the idea of being handcuffed and put to jail." Lacson headed the Philippine National Police from November 1999 until January 2001, when he resigned and withdrew support from then President Joseph Estrada. Both Lacson and Estrada were implicated as masterminds in the abduction and deaths of Dacer and Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. Both have denied any hand in the incident. The now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), which Lacson also headed, allegedly carried out Dacer and Corbito's killing in Cavite, Lacson's hometown. — RSJ, GMANews.TV