EDITORIAL - The fugitive

He’d rather be dead than be arrested, Panfilo Lacson said. A manhunt has been launched for the fugitive senator, wanted for the murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito 10 years ago. Almost all the men indicted for the gruesome murders were members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, an elite unit created by Joseph Estrada and headed by Lacson even when he was already chief of the Philippine National Police.

This fueled speculation that Lacson, at the very least, was aware of the crime perpetrated by his men but kept silent about it. It took several months, from the moment Dacer and his driver were waylaid in November 2000 at the boundary of Makati and Manila, before their charred remains were found in a shallow grave in Cavite, which also happens to be Lacson’s hometown. This could have been pure coincidence, but the best way to find out is to establish Lacson’s role in the crime.

He has long insisted on his innocence, but key officers of the PAOCTF have accused him of involvement in the twin murders. After Estrada’s ouster as president, Cavite residents who buried the bodies led investigators to the makeshift graves. They also pointed to the policemen involved, all of whom do not seem to have a personal motive for murdering a high-profile publicist. The widespread speculation, unchanged to this day, was that Dacer was set to reveal documents that were damaging to the Estrada administration, which at the time was fighting for its survival.

As a cop, Lacson sent many criminals to prison, and it is understandable that he would not want to land behind bars himself. But if he is truly innocent, the only way he can clear his name is by facing the charges and submitting himself to a court trial. His disappearance merely reinforces perceptions of his guilt. A new president is in place – one who is not Lacson’s political enemy. Lacson now has a good chance of getting due process, and it’s time for him to surface. No one is above the law. Not even lawmakers.