EDITORIAL - Just clear yourself

Eight years ago, when members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force were first implicated by arrested suspects in the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, the question that immediately came to mind was whether the head of the PAOCTF at the time, Panfilo Lacson, had ordered the hit, particularly because taking out a high-profile personality such as Dacer would require high-level clearance. That question has not been answered. Of the four ranking PAOCTF officers implicated in the murders, one was shot dead while three others fled to the United States.

All four officers have no known personal motive for wanting Dacer dead. The publicist and his driver were waylaid in November 2000, as efforts to oust then President Joseph Estrada were heating up. This gave rise to speculation that Dacer possessed information that would have further destabilized the government. If preventing destabilization was the motive, the finger of blame could touch even Estrada, who has vehemently denied involvement in the murder of a man he describes as his friend.

Now there is a chance that the mastermind may finally be unmasked. One of Lacson’s most trusted aides in the PAOCTF, Cezar Mancao II, is set to be extradited from the US and is reportedly ready to talk. Another former PAOCTF officer, Glenn Dumlao, is fighting extradition and managed to raise a cash bond of $100,000.

Mancao and Dumlao have executed affidavits on the murders, with Mancao reportedly naming Lacson as the one who gave the order to execute Dacer. Last week Dacer’s daughters filed double murder charges against Lacson. Now a senator and potential presidential contender, Lacson should see the filing of the charges as an opportunity to defend himself from persistent speculation that the PAOCTF would not carry out an assassination of a prominent target without his green light. The role of Estrada is unclear; a reference to “Bigote” and clearance from Malacañang for the hit can be rendered inconclusive, unless Lacson points to the deposed President as the brains.

In his latest travails, Lacson laments that he is being targeted by an administration whose transgressions he has exposed several times. His complaint may be valid, and so are observations that this administration is characterized by selective justice. But Mancao has reportedly given probable cause to suspect that Lacson had a hand in two gruesome murders. Political persecution or not, Lacson must face the charges squarely.