EDITORIAL - Don’t let this murder go unsolved

It was not surprising that Mary "Rosebud" Ong, the government’s star witness against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, accused the senator of involvement in the murder early yesterday of controversial police Superintendent John Campos. The slain officer was Ong’s lover for many years, and she said she had been trying to convince him for the past two weeks to support her accusations against Lacson, who was Campos’ former boss in the Phi-lippine National Police. Lacson has denied involvement in Campos’ murder and has threatened to sue Ong for libel.

On the other hand, there are also speculations that the murder is part of a sinister plan to discredit Lacson, who has admitted – foolishly, by some people’s reckoning – that he is not ruling out a run for the presidency in 2004. Lacson is considered a strong contender for the presidency, but his candidacy could be derailed by numerous accusations against him including multiple murder.

Only a thorough investigation will dispel the rumors swirling about the murder. Whoever was responsible, the administration must move for a quick, credible solution of this case. Campos, who was assigned as an instructor at the Philippine National Police Aca-demy, was on his way home from a nightclub and had stopped for a snack in an eatery near his home in Parañaque early yesterday. Before 2 a.m., a green car pulled up across the street. A man got out of the car, walked up to Campos and opened fire with an M-16 rifle. Three bullets hit Campos, who died moments later. Ano-ther hit the eatery’s cashier Emily Dumlao, who died later in a hospital.

There are already too many sensational cases unsolved in this country. The administration, which inevitably has been dragged into the mess of Campos’ murder, can’t afford to leave this case in the realm of speculation. President Arroyo should order her law enforcement officers to solve this case quickly and conclusively.