DOJ open to offering bounty for Lacson's arrest

The Department of Justice is not closing its doors to the possibility that a cash reward may be offered to informants that could help locate fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson. At a news briefing on Thursday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she will meet with representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Friday to discuss how they can improve efforts to track down Lacson. She said a possible bounty for informants "can be discussed tomorrow [Friday]. We will brainstorm on what further efforts need to be undertaken." Earlier, De Lima said she was embarrassed that the government cannot yet locate Lacson even if all possible means were already exhausted. 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. (See: De Lima 'embarrassed' Lacson's whereabouts still unknown) On Thursday, De Lima also said that her department is not ruling out the possibility that Lacson may just be hiding in the country. "We can't be too sure that Senator Ping Lacson is outside the country. We can't rule out the possibility.. in spite of the steps we've taken, including the cancellation of his passport, unless he's in a country with [lax] immigration laws, these so-called haven for fugitives," she said. Department of Justice prosecutors compose the prosecuting panel in the government's double murder case against Lacson at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. 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. A month later, the court issued a warrant of arrest against the seantor, 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. — RSJ, GMANews.TV