10 PAOCTF men face charges in Dacer case

The National Bureau of Investigation is preparing kidnapping charges against 10 officers and men of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force for the abduction of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito last November.

As these developed, a well-placed source at the NBI added that most of the PAOCTF men involved in the abduction are now in hiding. Among those now reportedly in hiding are Senior Superintendent Teofilo Vina and Senior Police Officer 4 Marino Soberano.

It was learned that Vina, former commander of the PAOCTF Visayas Group and Soberano, also detailed with the PAOCTF Visayas, went on leave until the end of this month. It was also learned that Soberano has also applied for early retirement from the Philippine National Police.

Vina, Soberano and Senior Police Officer 2 Edmund de Leon, who is detailed with PAOCTF Luzon, were invited for questioning by the NBI-National Capital Region at 3 p.m. yesterday in connection with Dacer’s abduction. However, the three refused to appear and were only represented by Fernando Perito, who also serves as lawyer for the other seven PAOCTF suspects.

De Leon, according to the NBI, is a member of the PAOCTF Luzon Group, and was accosted by security guards of the Sun Valley Subdivision three days before the Nov. 21 raid.

According to the NBI, when he was accosted by security guards, as he was moving suspiciously inside the subdivision, De Leon introduced himself as an agent of the PAOCTF. When security guards followed him, they saw De Leon board a van and leave followed by another group of men aboard a car. – Mike Frialde