Dacer-Corbito slay witness shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - A suspect in the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000 who had testified for the prosecution was killed at his home in Cavite early yesterday, a day before he was expected to appear before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reaffirm his testimony.

Jimmy Lopez, a former civilian agent of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), and his female companion died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Lopez, according to his own testimony, helped in hiding Dacer and Corbito before they were garroted and burned on the night of Nov. 24. The bodies were buried in a shallow grave.

Police investigators said Lopez’s killers fled on motorcycles immediately after the murders.

Senior Superintendent Alfred Corpus, Cavite police provincial director, ordered an investigation into the killing of Lopez, who was also on the watch list of drug personalities in the province.

Crucial witness

Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, head of the inter-agency task force on political violence and unexplained killings who also monitors developments in the Dacer case, announced the death of Lopez.

Lopez and three other state witnesses – his brother William, Alex Diloy and Willy Cabuguin – were expected to appear in today’s DOJ hearing on the double murder complaint filed by Dacer’s daughters against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, then chief of Philippine National Police, as mastermind.

Upon request of the lawyers of the Dacer siblings, all four were summoned by investigating fiscals led by Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong to personally affirm testimonies they had earlier submitted to a Manila court.

Lopez, along with Diloy, had identified four members of the PAOCTF who were among those who had taken part in the killing of Dacer and Corbito: SPO4 Marino Soberano, SPO3 Mauro Torres, SPO2 Jose Escalante and SPO1 Crisostomo Purificacion.

Lopez knew a lot

In his testimony, the former barangay captain detailed his participation in the killing. He had confessed that the group led by SPO4 Soberano arrived at his home in Barangay Buen Alejos I, Indang, Cavite on the afternoon of Nov. 24, 2000 and asked him where they could hold the two victims for safekeeping.

Dacer and Corbito were already hog-tied and their eyes and mouths covered with masking tape when they were brought to his house, according to Lopez.

He recalled that the party arrived in two vehicles. The victims were still alive and were inside a white Toyota Lite Ace.

Soberano and the two other PAOCTF agents, Escalante and Purificacion, were aboard another vehicle, he said.

“When they arrived, they were looking for a place to hide the two men they brought with them. I said I would find a place, so I brought the group to the garage of my brother, William,” Lopez said in Filipino.

He said the group waited until it was dark. At around 8 p.m., the group left for a nearby creek, bringing the two victims along. He clarified that he stayed behind because he has trouble walking long distances.

According to Diloy’s testimony, Dacer and Corbito were not killed by the PAOCTF men right away in the creek. He said they were first told to gather wood and some old rubber tires to be used in burning the bodies.

Diloy testified that the victims were made to lie face down and three men used the electrical cord to strangle them to death.

Lopez and Diloy were arrested in a dawn raid by NBI agents in Barangay Buen Alejos in Indang, Cavite on March 28, 2001.

When presented to reporters by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Diloy was wearing what he claimed were Dacer’s white shoes, as a souvenir of the brutal crime. White was the PR man’s favorite color.

He had confessed that he helped build a pyre of wood and old tires to dispose of the remains of the victims, who they said were set on fire after being doused with gasoline.

They let the corpses burn for about half an hour, he said. When it was over, he walked toward nearby Binakayan town, leaving the others behind.

DOJ condemned killing

Blancaflor said the incident just proved that “the enemy is going to do everything to put a stop to the reopening of the case.” He vowed to bring the killers to justice.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, on the other hand, immediately ordered the NBI to investigate the killing.

“We condemn to the highest degree this senseless killing. While the testimony of Lopez is important, he already testified in court and was already cross-examined and it is not indispensable since there are others who can give the same account,” Devanadera said.

The DOJ chief revealed that Lopez had waived his right to security protection under the witness protection program after he was dropped from the case as accused years ago.

“We are not attributing anything to anybody. The investigation has just started and we will abide by the results,” she stressed, but appealed to possible witnesses to surface and help in the probe.

Former police Sr. Supt. Cezar Mancao II, one of the main suspects testifying for the prosecution, lamented the killing of a fellow state witness in the murder case.

“I don’t know him personally. I haven’t even met him yet. But I sympathize with his family. It’s sad that a fellow witness was killed,” he said in a chance interview at the NBI headquarters.

Lacson was earlier given more time to answer the double murder charges filed against him by the Dacer siblings at DOJ after their counsels led by lawyer Demetrio Custodio asked the probe panel to summon other witnesses to the reinvestigation of the double murder case.

The witnesses are expected to fortify the testimony of Mancao that it was Lacson who ordered the killing of Dacer and Corbito.

This move prompted lawyers of Lacson to ask for additional period for submission of counter-affidavit on the complaint. Lawyer Gregorio Fernandez said they would have to await the affirmation of the testimonies of the additional witnesses before they could submit the defense.

The DOJ only reopened the double murder case after Lacson was tagged by Mancao, in the hope of finally uncovering the mastermind behind the killings. – With Arnell Ozaeta,