DOJ starts reinvestigation of Dacer-Corbito case

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Justice (DOJ) has started its reinvestigation into the November 2000 killings of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, Secretary Leila de Lima bared yesterday.

But De Lima refused to reveal angles they are pursuing, saying the new probe is being done “very quietly.”

Earlier, she cited a “breakthrough” in the case involving at least two possible suspects who could be involved in the murders but have not been covered by previous investigations.

She did not give further details, but hinted that they are “big names.”

Asked if they could be key to identifying the mastermind in the murders, she replied: “Anything is possible.”

She further suggested that the new suspects could lead to another angle “with same motive but involving different personalities” relative to testimonies of key accused now being tried in a Manila court.

De Lima said the two were not previously charged since evidence against them were “not clear or concrete” and because previous investigation was focused on Senator Panfilo Lacson’s alleged involvement in the killings that had already been dismissed by the Court of Appeals last February.

“They are now covered by our reinvestigation. No investigation was ever pursued against them, that’s why I’m convinced now more than ever that there should be a reinvestigation parallel or side by side with the ongoing trial,” she stressed.

Former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino recently returned to the country and cleared Lacson and deposed President Joseph Estrada in the murders.

De Lima said the DOJ will pursue prosecution of the case now pending in court and has been working for the extradition of another accused in the case – a subordinate of Aquino in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) who is still hiding in the US.

As to the issue on the place of detention of Aquino, the justice secretary said the DOJ would want him to stand trial while detained in the Manila city jail along with the other co-accused. But this issue would be resolved by the court, she added.

Lacson was earlier implicated in the double murder case by former senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II, another key accused who was also extradited to the country from the US in 2009 after agreeing to testify for the prosecution.

Lacson was accused of being the mastermind after Mancao testified that it was he who ordered the killing of Dacer when they were still in the PAOCTF, but he was eventually cleared by the appellate court.

Aquino’s testimony is expected to further counter that of Mancao and boost the claim of another key accused who was also extradited from the US earlier, former police superintendent Glenn Dumlao.

In this case, it would be Mancao’s testimony against those of Aquino and Dumlao with respect to the involvement of Lacson in the double murder case.