CA denies bid to restrain arrest warrant vs Lacson

(Updated 1:53 p.m.) The Court of Appeals (CA) has denied fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson's move to restrain a Manila court from enforcing an arrest warrant against him and from hearing the Dacer-Corbito double murder case where he is a prime suspect. In a decision promulgated on Nov. 26, the appellate court's Sixth Division said: "Finding the absence of clear and positive right as well as the existence of an urgent and permanent necessity for the writ to prevent serious damages, the prayer for injunctive relief is denied." The decision was presented to the media by Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong, the lead government prosecutor in the case against Lacson pending before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. Ong, however, did not give media copies of the resolution.
Lacson has been tagged as the mastermind in the Nov. 24, 2000 killing of veteran publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito. Lacson fled the country on January 5 this year, just two days before the DOJ filed two counts of murder against him before the Manila court. Last Thursday, Lacson, through a statement issued by his office, said he will not surrender until justice is served or until he dies. He likewise prodded Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to order a reinvestigation of the case, a request De Lima quickly thumbed down. De Lima welcomes CA resolution De Lima, meanwhile, welcomed the CA's latest resolution. She said now that there is no legal impediment to the implementation of the arrest warrant, her directive to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to boost efforts to trace Lacson will remain. "The warrant is immediately executory, unless a higher court restrains. But [Lacson's petition against the warrant] is denied, so the warrant of arrest stands. My directive to the NBI elite team stays," said De Lima. She also said it is an indication that the court "is not convinced that there is a basis to stop the implementation of the arrest warrant." "There is no extreme necessity to issue any injunctive relief to block the arrest," said De Lima. Sought for comment, Lacson's lawyer, Alex Poblador said he will not yet issue a statement because he has not seen the CA's resolution yet. "We have not received our copy yet. However, we would not consider the denial of our prayer for injuncitve relief as a setback as it does not really reflect on the merits of our petition," Poblador said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Poblador added that they are waiting for the CA's main decision on merits of their petition. — RSJ/VVP, GMANews.TV