DOJ chief De Lima: Lacson 'very likely' in the Philippines

Fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson is "very likely" hiding in the Philippines and not in other countries, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Tuesday. At a news briefing, De Lima said latest intelligence reports indicated that Lacson is "very likely" in the country. But De Lima declined to elaborate, saying disclosing details of the information gathered so far may jeopardize efforts to locate the senator, who is tagged as a prime suspect in the Nov. 24, 2000 abduction and murders of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito. "Existing intelligence information point to the possibility of Senator Ping Lacson being inside the country. All available information point to that fact. So there are ongoing operations aimed at effecting immediately the outstanding warrant of arrest against [Lacson]," said De Lima. She also said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is looking into two scenarios: Lacson left the country but managed to return through "backdoor means," and the other being Lacson may not have fled the country at all. She said it is possible that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Lacson leaving the airport in January "was just a charade." Lacson's ex-driver Also on Tuesday, De Lima said she has directed the NBI to link up with former policeman Reynaldo Oximoso, who was Lacson's driver from 1996 to 2004. Oximiso was arrested last Monday for the deaths of five Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) agents in 1984. But De Lima said she wants the NBI to determine whether Oximoso can be a witness in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. "He is (Oximoso) a potential witness depending on the facts that our NBI investigators would be able to elicit. That is my instruction to them (NBI agents), to access him and find out whether he knows anything about the 2000 Dacer-Corbito double murders," she added. In an affidavit executed on Feb. 13, 2009, former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II claimed Oximoso drove the vehicle where Lacson allegedly orderd the killing of Dacer and former police general Reynaldo Berroya. [See story: Mancao affidavit points to Lacson as slay mastermind] "I was seated in the front seat of the car then driven by Sgt. Oximoso (‘Oxy’ as we usually called him), while Aquino and Lacson sat at the back. Aquino told Lacson that he intends to neutralize or liquidate Delta first because Erap was already peeved by him, saying: ‘Tapusin muna namin si Delta, Sir, kasi naiirita na si Bigote sa kaniya,’" Mancao said in his affidavit. "Delta" referred to Dacer while “Bigote" was the commonly-known pseudonym of former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada. Aquino referred to former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, who is currently facing extradition proceedings in the United States. But in March last year, Oximoso denied Mancao's claim. "Col. Mancao, Sir, bakit ako ay idinadamay mo, gayong alam mo naman na wala akong kinalaman? Sana magpakalalaki ka [Col. Mancao, sir, why are you implicating me when you know for a fact that I have no knowledge of the crime? Be a man.]," Oximoso said in an exclusive interview with GMA News. (See: Lacson driver contests Mancao's claims, denies hearing about slay plot on Dacer) Mancao and Aquino fled the country in May 2001. Mancao was extradited to the Philippines in June 2009. Lacson and Estrada have both denied involvement in Dacer-Corbito killings. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV