The Dacer family will be trooping to Villa San Miguel, the prelate’s official residence in Mandaluyong City, before hearing Mass at the San Agustin Church in Manila in the afternoon to pray for the safe return of their father and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito.
They appealed to media yesterday to remain vigilant and relentless in reporting the developments of the case "so that investigators will not sleep on the job."
Dacer’s family complained of the snail-paced progress of the investigation, but nevertheless expressed confidence that the NBI and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force will soon come up with significant leads.
Carina, one of the missing PR man’s daughters, said they would not hire private investigators.
"We decided not to hire private investigators. Though we are at the moment dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation, we still trust the government will do its job," she said.
The Dacer family also asked investigators to spare them the traumatic task of identifying every recovered corpse.
"Why do we have to identify every dead person found?" bewailed Ampy Dacer-Henson.
She said investigators should rely on sensible judgment to determine if the corpses resemble the missing men.
The siblings also revealed that they have been receiving numerous prank calls from persons seeking monetary reward in exchange for information.
Malacañang granted yesterday the request of the Dacer family for a liaison officer who would provide them with daily updates on the case.
Assigned to the task was Brig. Gen. Rudolfo Diaz, chief of the Presidential Security Group.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) began DNA (dioxyribonucleic acid) testings on the remains of two mutilated bodies found in Nueva Vizcaya to determine if they belong to Dacer and his driver.
NBI chief chemist Dr. Idabel Pagulayan said bone marrow samples taken from the two corpses will be tested with saliva and blood samples from the relatives of Dacer and his driver. The testing will take at least two weeks to complete.
"Only after the test can we really be sure if the bodies found are indeed those of Mr. Dacer and his aide," Pagulayan said.
Residents found the remains last Thursday, nearly a week after Dacer’s disappearance. Witnesses said the bags were thrown over the San Lorenzo Bridge in Nueva Vizcaya by several unidentified men riding a Toyota Revo van. Police said the corpses were cut up into several pieces and stuffed into the trash bags, minus the heads.
Dacer disappeared last Nov. 24 while on the way to his office at the Manila Hotel for an appointment with former President Fidel Ramos, a friend and client. – Mike Frialde, Nestor Etolle, Jaime Laude