NBI agents now in US to fetch Michael Ray Aquino

Two National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents are now in the United States to fetch former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, one of the suspects in the killing of November 2000 Dacer-Corbito killings. NBI Foreign Liaison Office Claro de Castro, Jr. and NBI-Airport Division head agent Jesus Manapat arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport at 7:53 p.m. Monday (US time) for Aquino’s extradition. Manapat said he and De Castro will fly back to the Philippines on June 24 with Aquino, who will be turned over to them by US Marshals. "Dito na sa LAX ang turnover at mga US Marshals ang magbibigay kay Aquino," he said. De Castro, meanwhile, said the suspect will be brought to the NBI headquarters once they arrive in the Philippines on Sunday. "After ng initial na processing kay Aquino sa NBI headquarters, bahala na ang court kung saan dadalhin si Aquino," he said. Last June 9, US Department of Justice Attaché Robert Courtney wrote to Philippine Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras to inform him that the US State Department has signed the surrender warrant for Aquino's return to the Philippines. Aquino, a former police colonel, is among the lead suspects in the killings of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito. The double murder case filed against them is being handled by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief, was a suspect in the case until the Court of Appeals ordered the dismissal of the case filed against him early this year. — Andreo C. Calonzo, Sid Balatan/KBK, GMA News