VACC mulls fundraising drive for Lacson bounty

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) on Sunday urged the government to allot funds to be used as reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson. If need be, the group said it is willing to raise as much as P2 million for information on Lacson's location just to expedite his arrest in connection with the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and his driver 10 years ago. The camp of former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II, a witness in the case and a former Lacson subordinate in the police force, also expressed disappointment with how the government is taking too long to find Lacson, who went into hiding last January to elude arrest. "Baka naman pwedeng kami na lang ang mag-fund raising, mga private citizens, mag-ambag-ambag kami. Kasi nakakahiya naman sa gobyerno, wala pala silang pera para mahuli ang isang fugitive from justice," said VACC volunteer lawyer and Mancao's legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio, in a report on GMA News' "24 Oras Weekend." (Perhaps we private citizens can contribute and raise funds. It's too much to ask from the government because it turns out they don't have the money to locate and arrest a fugitive from justice.)

"Yun ngang asong nawawala may reward. Bakit 'yung nawawalang fugitive na accused sa crime of the decade ay walang reward?" Topacio asked. (Even information about missing dogs have a corresponding reward money. Why can't we do the same for a fugitive who is accused in what is considered as the crime of the decade?) Mancao's camp, however, still believes that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is doing what it can to arrest Lacson. Whistleblower and Lacson critic Mary "Rosebud" Ong, meanwhile, said she is in favor of offering a bounty for the arrest of Lacson, but added a "shoot to kill" order must also be issued against him. "Siya ay sana masali doon sa Philippines' most wanted list at lahat ng poster niya ay mapo-post from Manila to nationwide. And kung sakali siya ay nag-resist arrest sa NBI ay bigyan ng shoot to kill order," she said in the same newscast. (I hope he gets included on the Philippines' most wanted list and that his posters get posted in Manila and across the nation. And if ever he resists arrest by the NBI, a shoot to kill order must be issued against him.) Ong, who once accused Lacson of drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and summary execution, also urged President Benigno Aquino III to order the NBI to speed up efforts to locate and arrest the lawmaker. "'Pag magbitaw ng isang salita ang ating pangulo na bigyan ng isang order na arestuhin ang dapat arestuhin, si Ping Lacson, at humarap siya sa korte, malamang wala pang 24 hours may mahuhuli na ng NBI si Ping Lacson. Alam naman nila kung nasaan siya," she said. (If the President issues an order to arrest Lacson and bring him to the court, most probably, it won't take 24 hours for the NBI to find him. The NBI knows where he is after all.) Lacson was last seen on January 5 this year at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when he went into hiding, just two days before the Department of Justice filed two counts of murder against him with Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. Two operations have recently been conducted in Quezon City and in Batangas, but NBI agents failed to find him. GMA News tried to get the side of the DOJ and Lacson's lawyer, but both were unavailable for comment. Lacson is accused of masterminding the abduction and subsequent killing of Dacer and Corbito on Nov. 24, 2000. He was then head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) in a concurrent capacity. Members of PAOCTF reportedly carried out the killing allegedly under Lacson’s command, but the lawmaker has repeatedly denied involvement in the crime. - KBK, GMANews.TV