Dacer camp asks SC for more time to appeal CA's pro-Lacson ruling

The family of the late publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer has taken to the Supreme Court the legal battle on whether Sen. Panfilo Lacson should be prosecuted for the killings of Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito more than a decade ago. But Dacer's daughters, through lawyer Demetrio Custodio, asked for 10 more days in preparing their petition for review that seeks the reversal of the Court of Appeals' dismissal of Lacson's double murder case. The case is being handled by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. The CA ruling also voided the arrest warrants the Manila court issued against the senator, who returned to the Philippines last March 26 after evading arrest for more than a year. In a five-page motion for extension of time to file petition for review on certiorari, the Dacer family's lawyers said they were unable to complete the annexes that will be attached to the petition of Dacer's daughters. The lawyers added that they sent the petition to New York first, where Dacer's daughter, Carina, is based. "On April 5, 2011, undersigned counsel [Custodio] sent the petition to petitioner Carina L. Dacer in New York for her review and signature on the verification of non-forum shopping. While undersigned counsel received documents from the United States at midday today, the reproduction of the annexes has not been completed, as each set consists of about 1,200 pages and a total of 24 sets are required for this petition," said the motion. Lacson case Last February 3, the Court of Appeals' Special Sixth Division nullified the arrest warrants and ordered the dismissal of the double murder case that the Dacer family and the Department of Justice filed against Lacson before the Manila court. The appellate court said its decision was based on the unreliability of former police officer Cezar Mancao II as a key witness against Lacson. The Dacers and the DOJ (represented by the Office of the Solicitor General) appealled the CA ruling. Mancao, through lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, also asked to intervene in the case because he is not a direct party. The appellate court, however, denied the pleadings filed by the Dacers, the DOJ, and Mancao. The DOJ and Mancao's camp have yet to announce their next moves. — RSJ, GMA News