Palace orders probe on slay of Dacer-Corbito witness; not me, says Lacson

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday ordered the authorities to resolve the recent killing of a vital witness in the kidnap-slaying of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. In a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Mrs. Arroyo wanted probers to find out if Lopez's murder was connected to the November 2000 twin slayings. Lopez, one of the five witnesses who were set to testify before the Department of the Justice on Thursday, was gunned down by still unidentified men Wednesday inside his house in Trece Martires, Cavite. “The President expects the police to solve this immediately particularly, knowing if there is any link at all, of the murder to the existing issue at hand … So sa lalong madaling panahon, kailangan po silang magbigay ng report po," Golez said. Golez said while it is important to look at other angles, it is still “probable" that Lopez’ killing was linked to the Dacer-Corbito investigation. Earlier in the day, Sen. Panfilo Lacson cried foul over insinuations by Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor that he could have a hand in the killing of Lopez. “Undersecretary Blancaflor was too quick in pointing fingers. He should first investigate what happened and find out what were the possible motives," said Lacson in an interview with reporters. Lacson said it was wrong for Blancaflor to immediately declare the killing to be connected with the scheduled testimony before a DOJ panel since Lopez had already testified before and had not implicated the senator. Lacson pointed out that Lopez had earlier submitted an affidavit to the panel and never implicated him. “So wala akong motibo para ipahamak siya (So I have no motive to harm him)," Lacson said. He further noted that it was the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that has plenty of explaining to do since Lopez turned out to be under the government’s Witness Protection Program when he was killed. NBI officials, however, said unlike other witnesses, Lopez already waived the government-offered security. Security of witnesses tightened As a result of Lopez’s killing, the NBI increased on Thursday the security of three other witnesses in the Dacer-Corbito case. The witnesses are former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II, Superintendent Glenn Dumlao and William Diloy. “Pinadagdagan po ang (We increased) security by 30%. We have to take into consideration iyong nangyaring pagpatay kay (the killing of) Lopez," said Ric Diaz, head of the NBI’s Counter-Terrorism Task Force. Diaz said investigators are not dismissing the idea that Lopez’s killing may have something to do with the ongoing investigation on the double murder of 2002, in which former President Joseph Estrada and Lacson were implicated as masterminds. Diaz said the NBI has already created a task force to investigate the killing of Lopez. Lopez claimed in 2001 that he assisted members of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) in the Dacer-Corbito killings which happened in late 2000. Mancao and Dumlao were officials of the task force, which was headed by Lacson in a concurrent capacity when he was chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). NBI officials said Lopez’s killing was not the first one involving witnesses in the Dacer-Corbito cases. In 2003, Supt. Teofilo Vina, a police officer who was also implicated in the double murder, was killed. Like Lopez’s, it was not clear if the murder was related to the Dacer-Corbito case. Mancao’s testimony On Thursday, Mancao "affirmed" his February 13, 2009 affidavit before the Manila Regional Trial Court linking Lacson, Estrada, and police officials in the killings, according to Mancao's counsel, Ferdinand Topacio. Mancao stated in the affidavit that his men from the PAOCTF conducted "special operations" which allegedly turned out to be the killings of Dacer and Corbito. Mancao mentioned that the said operations were allegedly carried out to "neutralize" a media man critical of Erap, which Mancao said was the known pseudonym of Estrada. Mancao added that the operations had the nod of Malacañang, or the Office of the President. He said the media man was referred to as “Delta," whom he later identified as Dacer. Mancao also said that in October 2000, he heard Lacson order former Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino to “liquidate" then police Chief Superintendent Renaldo Berroya (now an assistant secretary at the Department of Transportation and Communications), Lacson’s long-time nemesis. According to Mancao’s affidavit, Aquino said Dacer should be finished off first "because Erap was already peeved at him." Topacio said Mancao would undergo cross-examination on September 10. ’Lying or confused?’ Commenting of Mancao’s latest testimony, Lacson said his former subordinate either “deliberately lied under oath or he didn't know what he was talking about in court." “I am sorry for him. While I can understand the tremendous pressure being applied by this administration on him, he should at least stick to the truth and respect his oath by stating only the facts and not hearsays and his opinion," Lacson said in a press statement. “For the nth time, I maintain my innocence and even absence of knowledge pertaining to the Dacer-Corbito case," he added. - Aie Balagtas See, Amita Legaspi and Andreo Calonzo, GMANews.TV