Lacson case 'test of will' for Aquino admin, says senator

The pursuit of fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson is becoming a test of the Aquino administration’s will to enforce justice, Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said on Friday. "Nagiging test ito tuloy ng will ng gobyerno (This has become a test of the government's will) to go after fugitives of justice," Cayetano said during a press conference on Friday. Earlier, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is looking at two possible scenarios: one is that Lacson left the country but managed to return through "backdoor means," and the other is that Lacson may not have fled the country at all. (See: DOJ chief De Lima: Lacson 'very likely' in the Philippines) Cayetano, however, said that the NBI should just do its job. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I hope there will be less talk about this and then gawin na lang yung magagawa (they should just do what they have to do)," he said. He likewise said that the Aquino administration should give Lacson an assurance that he will be given due process if he decides to surface. "I understand (his) anxiety (but) I think Sen. Ping should also consider that this is a much more friendly government," he said. Cayetano also reiterated his assurance that Lacson will be treated fairly once the proceedings on the ethics complaint filed against him begin. (See: VACC files ethics complaint vs Lacson) "We want to give him due process so we're not rushing it in the sense [that] let's decide on the rules first. After the rules, let's decide what to do when a senator's not present and there's a case against him," he said. Lacson is alleged as the principal suspect in the killing of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. At the time, Lacson was concurrent head of the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the unit implicated in the twin murders. Lacson fled the country on Jan. 5, 2010, two days before the Department of Justice – then headed by Agnes Devanadera – filed two counts of murder against him before Branch 18 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. A month later, the court issued an arrest warrant against him. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already canceled his regular and diplomatic passports on the grounds that he is a "fugitive from justice," as provided by the Philippine Passport Act of 1996.—Kimberly Jane T. Tan/JV, GMANews.TV