Lacson camp belittles Michael Ray Aquino's extradition

The camp of Sen. Panfilo Lacson is unfazed by the imminent return of former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, one of the suspects in the killing of veteran publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Lacson's lawyer, Alex Poblador, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) should instead focus on other personalities in its reinvestigation on the case, noting that Aquino has already cleared Lacson in an affidavit executed in August 2010. "Aquino's return should redirect the DOJ's reinvestigation to other personalities. Since Aquino has made it clear in his affidavit that Senator Lacson has nothing to do with the Dacer-Corbito crimes, [Aquino's] return cannot occasion the reinvestigation of Senator Lacson. Senator Lacson can only be reinvestigated if there is new evidence against him," Poblador said in a text message to GMA News Online on Monday. Earlier in the day, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that she has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to send two agents to the United States to fetch Aquino before July 3. The DOJ's order stemmed from the US State Department's issuance of a surrender warrant against Aquino, an indication that all is set for his extradition to the Philippines. Michael Ray: 10 years in the US Aquino was a senior officer of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), the unit that allegedly carried out Dacer and Corbito's killings on Nov. 24, 2000. Aquino's colleagues at the PAOCTF included former police officers Cezar Mancao II and Glenn Dumlao. PAOCTF was headed by Lacson, who was then concurrent Philippine National Police chief. Mancao and Aquino fled to the United Stated in July 2001, supposedly on the instructions of Lacson, who won as senator in the elections that year. Dumlao went to the US in 2003. The three were subsequently arrested by US authorities. Mancao and Dumlao were extradited to the Philippines in 2009, while Aquino fought his extradition. But this year, a US court rejected Aquino's appeal, thereby paving the way for his return to the Philippines after a decade of being in the US. DOJ panel welcomes extradition When Aquino returns to the Philippines, he is set to face the double murder charges lodged against him before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. Aquino remains on the list of the accused in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, docketed as "People of the Philippines vs Michael Ray Aquino et al." before the Manila court. Aquino's co-accused are former police officers belonging to the PAOCTF. They are detained at the Manila City Jail. The other double murder case filed with the Manila court is against Lacson. The case, docketed as "People of the Philippines vs Panfilo Lacson," was junked with finality by the Court of Appeals last March. During the pendency of the case, Lacson went into hiding abroad. The CA dismissed the case on March 18. Lacson surfaced in the Philippines eight days later. On Monday, the head of the DOJ panel handling the case against Aquino welcomed the former police officer's impending return. "As far as our case is concerned, naturally we welcome this because Aquino is the only one who's missing here and he is the highest-ranking police officer among the accused. In fact, in our line-up, he is the number one," said Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo in an interview with reporters. — KBK, GMA News