DOJ orders NBI to coordinate with Interpol for Lascañas' arrest

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to coordinate with the International Police Organization (Interpol) for the arrest of retired policeman Arturo Lascañas.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II directed NBI Director Dante Gierran on June 8 to ask Interpol about information on the whereabouts of Lascañas and coordinate with the proper authorities to carry out the arrest.

Judge Retrina Fuentes of the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 10 issued a warrant of arrest for Lascañas on June 5 for frustrated murder and murder cases stemming from the two attempts on broadcast journalist Jun Pala's life in June 2002 and April 2003, respectively, and his assassination on September 6, 2003.

The cases were filed by the Davao City Prosecutor's Office on June 1 after it found probable cause to take Lascañas to court.

Lascañas, who left the country for Singapore on April 8, had confessed that he was a team leader of alleged vigilante group Davao Death Squad.

During the Senate inquiry on March 6, Lascañas claimed the killings attributed to the DDS were sanctioned by then-Davao City mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte.

Lascañas also said that the contract for Pala's murder amounted to P3 million, which was divided by those who took part in the operation.

The former policeman said Duterte gave him additional P1 million as reward money for the successful hit of Pala, a known critic of Duterte.

Lascañas had previously denied the existence of the DDS in a Senate inquiry in October last year but said he was forced to do so out of fear for his security and his family's.

He had left the country as he expressed fears of being locked up in jail or killed if he returns home. —ALG, GMA News