Dacer family, VACC raising P2-M bounty for Lacson arrest

The Dacer family, a state witness in the Dacer-Corbito case, and an anti-crime group started a campaign to raise P2 million as reward money for information leading to the arrest of fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson. This was announced in a press conference in Quezon City on Tuesday by Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) chairman Dante Jimenez and Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, lawyer of state witness and former Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II, who had linked Lacson to the crime. Jimenez and Topacio said the reward money will help authorities arrest fugitives. "Policy iyon ng gobyerno. Reward is a good system para ma-solve ang mga problema (Giving rewards is a government policy. It's a good system to solve problems)," Jimenez said. Fugitive senator Lacson is being hunted down by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for his alleged participation in the killings of Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000. Lacson fled the country in January 5 this year, just two days after the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges against him for the killings. Justice Secretary Leila De Lima earlier said intelligence information showed Lacson may just be in hiding in the Philippines. De Lima also said she would not object proposals to dangle a P2 million reward for the arrest of Lacson. The NBI made several failed attempts at finding Lacson in alleged safe houses in Quezon City and Batangas since last week. Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has already denied rumors that the government would be offering reward money for the senator's arrest. He also rejected the idea of giving reward money, saying it would send the message that the Philippine National Police is not doing its job. However, the Dacers and the VACC think otherwise, and decided to set up the fund-raising campaign. The VACC criticized the Aquino administration for the conflicting sentiments of the DOJ and the DILG. "How can two departments under President Noynoy Aquino differ in implementing a legal order from the court and apply strategic pressure so t hat Sen. Lacson will voluntarily submit himself to the court without resorting to political gimmickry," the group said. Jimenez said two "known" businessmen friends of his have already pledged a total of P150,000 for the cause. "Lalo na ngayong Pasko, sana magsakripisyo ang mga tao on this very worthy cause," Jimenez said. He said the money that would be collected would be turned over to the DOJ. Jimenez called on the VACC's 10,000 members to help in the fund-raising campaign by donating portions of their Christmas allowances. Their volunteers would also be tapped to make the rounds in shopping centers and markets around the country, bringing with them their donation boxes. Jimenez said the Dacer family had already told him they would be launching a similar campaign in the United States, where they have settled ever since the killings happened. The VACC will also open a bank account where donations could be deposited. Lacson waiting for justice to be served A QTV Balitanghali report on Tuesday quoted Lacson's camp as saying it has yet to determine whether the senator's human rights would be trampled upon by the fund-raising campaign. In an earlier statement distributed to the media on December 2, Lacson said, "I will only come out when justice is rightly served or when I’m already dead." He also maintained his innocence in the Dacer-Corbito killings in 2000. In the statement, Lacson also reiterated his request to De Lima to order a reinvestigation of the case. However, De Lima, in a statement released also on December 2, maintained that Lacson should first surrender to obtain the justice he is seeking from the government. – VVP, GMANews.TV