Lacson gets Gringo support in call for reinvestigation, ‘due process’

A day after fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he will surface only after justice is served or after he is dead, his colleague and mistah (classmate), Sen. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan II backed Lacson's call for a reinvestigation into the Dacer-Corbito case. In a radio interview Friday, Honasan said he may file a resolution that will express the Senate's "sense" that the Department of Justice (DOJ) should accommodate Lacson's call for a reinvestigation. "Come Monday, I will consult the Senate leadership for the possibility of a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate. There is inter-department courtesy and we do not want to be perceived as pressuring the courts, the DOJ or the executive branch just because Lacson is our colleague," he said in Filipino on dwIZ radio. Both Honasan and Lacson belong to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971. Honasan said he will consult Senate officials including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, and Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. "Nangangamba kami sa ganitong sitwasyon... walang mangyayari rito. Baka lang malagay lalo sa alanganin si Sen. Lacson at mawala ang konsepto natin ng due process (We are worried nothing will come out of this deadlock. Lacson's life may be in danger and there may be no due process in the case)," he added. On Thursday, Lacson's office issued a statement saying that the senator will surface only when justice is served or after he is dead, even as he reiterated his call for a reinvestigation. [See story: I'll come out if...] Justice Secretary Liela de Lima, however, maintained that Lacson should first surrender in order for him to obtain the justice he is seeking from the government. To which, Honasan said: "We cannot reconcile these two positions."

But Honasan said a reinvestigation may encourage Lacson to finally surface, noting he and the other senators have been urging Lacson to come out and face the charges against him. "We his classmates are worried about the danger to his safety and so is his family. But we in the Senate also want him to come out and defend himself against the charges," Honasan said. "We will consider passing the resolution before Christmas or before the New Year. The deadlock cannot stay like this. So long as the deadlock exists, neither the DOJ nor Sen. Lacson's goals in this case will be met," he added. Lacson, who was tagged by former police colonel Cezar Mancao II as mastermind in the killing of publicist Salvador Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000, left the country earlier this year – before a warrant for his arrest was issued. While De Lima said she can exercise plenary power to re-investigate the case, she said she cannot do so now because Lacson has pending motions before the regional trial court. Scrap bounty proposal Honasan also called for the scrapping the proposed cash reward for any information leading to Lacson's arrest, saying it will encourage mercenaries. He said some "interested groups" may unofficially add to the cash prize to encourage bounty hunters and mercenaries to track down Lacson. According to him, when he was in hiding after being linked to the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, some parties unofficially offered added rewards on top of a P5-million bounty for him. "If we continue this bounty, money would be another motivation aside from the due process of law," he said in Filipino. De Lima had hinted that she was for the P2-million bounty for Lacson but Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was not keen on the idea. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV