Ex-aide clears Lacson in Dacer-Corbito killings

A protégé of Sen. Panfilo Lacson has denied that his former boss ordered the killing of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito almost ten years ago. In an affidavit executed on Aug. 9, 2010 in New Jersey in the United States, former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino said he never received any orders from Lacson to finish off a certain "Delta" and "Bero." GMA News obtained a copy of Aquino's affidavit and sources from the former police officer's camp confirmed the authenticity of the same. Aquino's former colleague — former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II — had claimed in his Feb. 13, 2009 affidavit that "Delta" referred to Dacer while "Bero" referred to former police general Reynaldo Berroya, Lacson's long-time nemesis. Aquino is currently facing proceedings for extradition to the Philippines for his alleged involvement in the double murder case. Aquino and Mancao worked under Lacson in the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Task Force (PAOCTF), the unit that allegedly carried out the abduction and killing of Dacer and Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. "I specifically deny there was any order given to me by then Police Director General Panfilo M. Lacson to liquidate any person, specifically a certain 'Bero' and 'Delta' sometime in October 2000 or as testified by Mr. Mancao in open court during his testimony in support of his Motion to Discharge as State witness 'sometime in September and early part of October 2000,’" said Aquino. He added that as far as he knows, Lacson "has no personal knowledge about any special operations against any person, much less against a certain 'Delta' or 'Bero.'" The PAOCTF Former President Joseph Estrada created the PAOCTF in July 1998. The task force was headed by then Chief Superintendent Panfilo Lacson, who eventually became Philippine National Police chief and was subsequently elected senator in 2001 and won a second term in 2007. According to Mancao’s Feb. 13, 2009 affidavit, Aquino headed PAOCTF's Operations Division while Mancao headed the PAOCTF's Task Group Luzon. Former Superintendent Glenn Dumlao was Mancao's deputy for operations. Mancao claimed that Aquino utilized his men in a "special operation" to "neutralize" a media man critical of Estrada. He added that the operation had the approval of Malacañang, or Estrada's office. Mancao said the media man referred to as "Delta" was Dacer. Mancao had claimed that in October 2000, he heard Lacson order Aquino to "liquidate" then Chief Superintendent Berroya. On Nov. 24, 2000, Dacer was abducted and killed along with his driver, Corbito. Berroya, however, remained unharmed. Orders during the car ride But Aquino, in his Aug. 9, 2010 affidavit, denied being in the same car with Lacson and Mancao in October 2000. He likewise said there was never any conversation that happened between him, Lacson, and Mancao inside any vehicle during that time. "I also deny having ridden in the same car or vehicle with Police Director General Panfilo M. Lacson and Cezar O. Mancao during the time I was serving as the Head of the Operations Division of the Presidential Anti-Organized Task Force (PAOCTF)," said Aquino. "Moreover, there was also no conversation that happened among myself, [Lacson] and [Mancao] inside any vehicle in October 2000 where allegedly the latter heard me and then Police Director General Panfilo Lacson discussing an order to eliminate or liquidate a certain 'Bero' and 'Delta,'" he added. After the killings In January 2001, Estrada was forced to step down from office at the height of a massive people’s uprising that focused on anti-corruption issues against his administration. His vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, then assumed the presidency. In May 2001, Lacson won in the senatorial elections. Mancao said in his affidavit that Lacson met with him and Aquino and asked them to leave the country because the newly-installed Arroyo administration would go after those behind the Dacer-Corbito killings. In July that year, Mancao and Aquino fled to the United States. Mancao was extradited to the Philippines eight years later, in June 2009. Aquino, for his part, went into hiding until September 2005, when he was arrested for possession of two of "47 classified documents" described as "blueprint" to topple then President Arroyo. Oximoso Also in his affidavit, Aquino confirmed that former SPO4 Reynaldo Oximoso or Oxi, served as Lacson's driver. Oximoso was arrested in Bataan on Monday, Nov. 1, for the killing of five policemen in 1984. He is now detained at the Quezon City Jail. The Justice Department has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to gain access to Oximoso. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Oximoso could be a "potential witness" in the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case. But in an affidavit executed last August 2, 2010, Oximoso also cleared Lacson from any involvement in the deaths of Dacer and Corbito. Oximoso said he never heard Lacson make any orders to kill Dacer. "Aking pinasisinungalingan ang nasabing pangyayari. Hindi kailanman nagsalita ng ganun si Heneral Lacson kay S/Supt. Aquino. Sa abot ng aking kaalaman, hindi nagkaroon ng pagkakataon na magkakasama silang tatlo sa sasakyang aking minamaneho at pinag-uusapan kailanman ang tungkol sa kaso ng nasirang Bubby Dacer at ng kanyang driber na si Corbito," said Oximoso. (I deny the incident. General Lacson never made such statement to S/Supt. Aquino. As far as I know, there was never an incident where Mancao, Lacson, and Aquino were together in the vehicle I was driving. They never discussed anything about the late Bubby Dacer and his driver Corbito.) Oximoso denied he himself participated in the controversial case. "Ito ay akin din mariing pinabubulaanan sa kadahilanang ang aking trabaho bilang security-aide/driver ay pangalagaan lamang ang seguridad at ipagmaneho lang si Heneral Lacson at wala nang iba," he said. (I vehemently deny this on the grounds that my job as a security-aide/driver only entails ensuring the security of, and driving for General Lacson and no one else.) — RSJ/JV, GMANews.TV