MANILA, Philippines - The daughter of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer has appealed to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and senators to exert effort into pushing ally and colleague Senator Panfilo Lacson to finally appear and shed light on the murder.
In an interview with ANC, Carina Dacer said “it would be good if he [Aquino] does that [moral suasion]. I believe the senators can do it as well…”
While several senators have issued “appeals,” they can also come out with “a stronger statement that he should submit himself to the courts…It should already be a directive,” she said.
Lacson has been in hiding for a year now to escape what he calls “political persecution.”
He is wanted for the deaths of the publicist and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito. The senator lost in December an appeal before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 seeking a reinvestigation into his supposed role in the double murders.
Impatience
Dacer said Lacson has been coming up with nonsense excuses in trying to evade questioning.
She noted that the senator went into hiding during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, where he used as an excuse his alleged “political persecution.”
“Iba na yung presidente ngayon – an ally, fellow senator. Iba excuse niya dati, ngayon iba na naman, ‘Over my dead body’ na. Kung ayaw mo lumabas, sabihin mo na lang, don’t use other people,” she stressed.
There is nothing political even about her family’s struggles to find her father’s killers, she also said.
“Hindi politician ang daddy ko…There is no politician helping us, ewan ko siya. We’re not running for office,” she added.
If there is anyone who should be crying unfair, it would be her family who has not seen justice for 10 years.
It is also unfair for the common people who have been arrested immediately after a court order, she added.
Aquino’s priority list
She expressed confidence, however, that the family will still get the needed answers.
“I’m confident that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is on top of it,” she added.
De Lima earlier ordered a nation-wide manhunt against the senator. She said intelligence reports say that he is only in the country, and not abroad as he would want the public to believe.
“I trust that the President, during his inaugural speech, that he wanted justice for all…I know, given his background, how important justice is to him,” she said.
Aquino earlier noted Lacson’s arrest is not his administration’s priority.
Nonetheless, Dacer said she hopes that it is still in his list.
Open to talks
Dacer said they are even open to talks with Lacson himself and former President Joseph Estrada especially if they have relevant information to share. Lacson earlier linked Estrada to the murders.
The family will not allow, however, that the discussions will go Lacson’s or Estrada’s way. Dacer said they will not agree if the purpose is for the issuance of a statement on both personalities’ non-involvement in the case.
Otherwise, they will have to make do with little steps to achieve justice, she added.
“We’re not stopping here. We’re looking at other persons not in the United States, those involved in the actual murder,” she said.
source: abs-cbnnews.com/
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