Dacer family to include Erap in slay raps

MANILA, Philippines - The family of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer is now planning to include former President Joseph Estrada as an accused in the double murder case, their counsel revealed yesterday.

Lawyer Demetrio Custodio said the Dacer family noted the substance of the testimony made by former senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II before the Manila regional trial court in naming Estrada as among the six people behind the murders.

“There was clear indication in Mancao’s testimony in court of President Estrada’s involvement in the case so we are already preparing an amended complaint

to be filed in DOJ (Department of Justice),” Custodio said.

Custodio said the Dacer sisters, who are all based in the US, have approved the inclusion of Estrada in the charge sheet.

He said the basis for filing an amended complaint before the DOJ is the testimony made by Mancao before the court during the hearing last Sept. 3.

Aside from Estrada, Mancao also named Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former police senior officials Michael Ray Aquino, Teofilo Viña, Vicente Arnado and Glenn Dumlao as having taken part in Operation Delta, a covert operation supposedly designed to silence Dacer.

Custodio made the revelation in contrast to his earlier statements that the Dacers were not interested in including Estrada in the charges.

Custodio said Mancao’s affidavit, on which the Dacer family had based the initial complaint against Lacson, had no direct reference to Estrada as the one having given instructions on the killing.

Custodio, however, clarified the decision to include Estrada in the complaint was not based on the privilege speech made by Lacson on Monday implicating the former president in the murders.

Custodio also stressed they need more time to file the amended complaint since his clients - Carina Dacer, Sabina Dacer-Reyes, Emily-Dacer Hungerford and Amparo Dacer-Henson - are all in the US.

“There is a need to amend the present complaint so that those responsible for the gruesome killing of Dacer and Corbito, particularly former President Joseph Estrada, may be made to answer for the crime,” read the motion filed by the Custodio at the DOJ.

Custodio filed the motion before the DOJ a day after Lacson delivered a privilege speech at the Senate accusing Estrada.

Carina Dacer, for her part, expressed dismay that the word war between Lacson and Estrada is not helping in expediting the resolution of the case.

“It will not do us good if they (Estrada and Lacson) just talk about them in the Senate and in the media,” Carina said.

“They must file it in court to make it legal, Otherwise, it’s useless,” Carina told GMA-7 in a telephone interview yesterday.

Key player

A ranking official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) revealed the major role of former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.

The NBI official, who requested anonymity since he is not authorized to speak on the issue, said Aquino plays a big role in the double murder case since he knows who gave the direct order to kill publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

The same official said they are now exerting all efforts to extradite Aquino at the soonest possible time to appear as one of the accused in the murders.

“The extradition case is continuing. Now, we have not yet lost in any extradition case. We have good relations with the United States, so I think we will win this case, and this extradition request would be granted. We just don’t know when. But he (Aquino) is the key,” the official said.

Aquino is among the three former police colonels that served under the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) then headed by Lacson.

The two other police colonels, Mancao and Dumlao, served directly under Aquino as PAOCTF director for operations.

Aquino, Mancao and Dumlao were among the 22 people charged in the double murder case before the Manila Regional Trial Court that issued warrants for their arrest.

Before the warrants of arrest were served, the three separately fled to the US, prompting the Philippine government to invoke the extradition treaty to have them sent back.

Mancao and Dumlao were sent back while Aquino is awaiting extradition charges pending the decision of his appeal in his conviction for spying in the US.

The same NBI official also revealed that Arnado, one of the six accused named by Mancao in his testimony, is hiding in the US.

“Arnado is in the United States right now. He is missing, but we heard that he is in the United States. No extradition request has been made yet by the Philippine government to the US,” he said.

The NBI official said Aquino’s testimony could be more important than those of Mancao and Dumlao.

He pointed out Aquino was in a position to know the details of the supposed operation to silence Dacer since he was then the PAOCTF operations chief.

The official though declined to say who may have given the direct order to Aquino to carry out the operation.

“The operations (to kill Dacer and Corbito) went through him (Aquino). It is not possible that this was executed without his knowledge,” the source said.

The NBI official noted Mancao’s testimony that there was a direct order given by Aquino to Dumlao to tail Dacer.

“Aquino gave direct orders to Dumlao to (conduct) surveillance (operations on) Dacer at the Manila Hotel. Aquino had ordered Dumlao,” the official said.

“It is Michael Ray (Aquino) who will be able to give these details. Michael Ray is an accused. But, if he chooses to keep his mouth shut, what can we do? It is Michael Ray who should explain the details here because he knows,” the NBI official said.

He said Aquino was directly reporting to Lacson and then President Joseph Estrada.

Management style

The NBI official virtually confirmed Lacson’s suspicions that he was kept in the dark that led him to deny the existence of the supposed operations to kill Dacer.

Lacson had suspected someone “higher up” might have authorized the operations to silence the publicist, bypassing his authority as PAOCTF chief.

The NBI official revealed Estrada was already giving direct orders to Aquino, bypassing Lacson.

He revealed Estrada was even calling on some PAOCTF agents and giving them orders.

Estrada, on the other hand, maintained he had nothing to do with the murder of Dacer and Corbito.

Estrada also clarified he did not directly accuse Lacson of being behind the murders.

Estrada denied knowing “Operation Delta,” or “Task Force Delta,” the supposed PAOCTF operations to kill Dacer. He said Lacson is supposed to know the existence of the operation being the PAOCTF chief.

“I said Mr. Lacson can defend himself. I don’t know about Task Force Delta. I don’t know anything about Operation Delta. But I am not pinpointing him (Lacson),” Estrada told ABS-CBN’s “Umagang kay Ganda” yesterday.

Estrada maintained he has no motive to kill Dacer, his kumpadre, being the godfather of one of the children of the slain publicist.

Estrada also denied giving direct orders to PAOCTF operatives, bypassing Lacson.

“I always course it through him (Lacson). I never bypassed him as chief PNP. I don’t even deal with the undersecretaries. I directly go to the secretaries and I hold them responsible for their subordinates. That is my style of management. I never bypassed a chief of the PNP,” he said. - With Sandy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano