These were the words of reassurance given by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to the four daughters of missing publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer who sought spiritual guidance and prayers for their father’s safe recovery.
Meanwhile, on orders of President Estrada, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) has stepped aside in favor of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as the lead agency in the case of the missing PR man and his driver, Manuel Corbito.
Mr. Estrada’s directive was apparently meant to ensure impartiality in investigations after a police official of the PAOCTF was implicated by witnesses as behind Dacer’s abduction.
Sabina Reyes, Ampy Henson, Karina and Emily Dacer arrived 30 minutes early for their scheduled 9 a.m. meeting with Cardinal Sin at the Archbishop’s Palace at Villa San Miguel in Mandaluyong City.
The Dacer daughters met with the visibly sick prelate for 15 minutes. "Be strong, God loves you. Don’t be afraid," Sin was quoted as telling the four sisters.
Sin reminded Dacer’s daughters to turn to prayer in times of desperation, and "made their day" when he assured them that their father is still alive, a source said.
Sin also assured them that he would even give money in case Dacer’s abductors ask for ransom.
"I would ask my parishioners to pitch in case your father’s abductors ask for ransom," Ampy Henson quoted Sin as telling them.
Sin admitted not knowing Dacer personally. Dacer’s daughters handed him a white envelope containing photographs of the 66-year-old PR man and a formal letter requesting spiritual guidance.
"I always see this guy on television but I haven’t met him personally," Sin said as he took a glimpse of Dacer’s picture.
Mr. Estrada has invited Dacer’s daughters to a meeting at Malacañang after seeing on TV his goddaughter Ampy pleading that he take an active role in the search for his kumpare.
Mr. Estrada also granted their wish by assigning Brig. Gen. Rodulfo Diaz, head of the Presidential Security Group, as liaison officer who will brief the publicist’s family of developments in the case.
Henson said they declined Mr. Estrada’s invitation, citing security reasons.
"As of now, we are not sure who our real friends and enemies are, that is why we went to Cardinal Sin. We are worried about our security as if we have a choice because we are all women," Henson said.
The sisters arrived at the Archbishop’s Palace with a security detail provided by the office of Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez, in whose city the Dacers reside.
The four claimed they are losing sleep worrying about the condition and fate of their father.
"We are anxious the longer it takes as days go by. I hope that they don’t hurt him physically, and we hope that when he returns he would be in good health and had not suffered any mental torture," Sabina Reyes said.
At the time of their disappearance on Nov. 24, Dacer and his driver were aboard a white Toyota Revo on their way to the Manila Hotel for the PR man’s meeting with former President Fidel Ramos, a friend and client.
In a statement, Ramos described the Estrada administration’s efforts to rescue Dacer and Corbito as "lukewarm, half-hearted and even uncoordinated."
Ramos said PAOCTF chief and police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson’s official trip to the United States was indeed mysterious in the light of recent events.
He said the Dacer daughters called him up the other night asking him to intercede with authorities.
"They just can’t handle the situation in the middle of their anguish; so many calls are being received daily by the family and one of them may be real and aside from that they have to be interviewed by mediamen," he said.
Magalong described Mr. Estrada’s directive as his "prerogative."
"We were directed by the President to continue to intensify our efforts in the investigation as we coordinate with the NBI," Magalong told reporters at the task force’s headquarters at Camp Crame.
Magalong also belied reports that the presidential directive removing them as lead agency came following reports that a PAOCTF official assigned in the Visayas had a hand in the disappearance of Dacer and his driver.
The task force also brushed aside insinuations that its investigation was half-hearted. "That is impossible. On the contrary, our investigators are talking with members of the Dacer family," Magalong said.
He reiterated that the NBI itself through acting director Carlos Caabay has ruled out the PAOCTF official’s alleged involvement in the abduction. "Nothing came out in the NBI’s investigation that the PAOCTF is involved," he said.
Caabay admitted yesterday that a dearth of information is badly hampering the agency from actively pursuing the case.
"We don’t have that much information about the case. There are no informants," Caabay said, adding at the moment they only have the two handtowel vendors who witnessed the crime at the corner of Zobel Roxas and South Super Highway on the boundary of Makati and Manila.
However, observers said the NBI seems to be watering down the possible link of the PAOCTF to the case because Caabay admitted not having compared the cartographic sketch of one suspect with the task force’s personnel files.
He also said that based on fingerprint examinations, the two headless bodies found in Nueva Vizcaya last week were not Dacer’s and Corbito’s.
"We could not see any reason why he was named as a possible suspect," she said.
The NBI summoned Remulla for questioning after the bureau determined that his bodyguard, a retired colonel, bore a striking resemblance to the cartographic sketch of one of the abductors based on the description of the handtowel vendors.
The publicist’s van was also found ditched in Cavite a week after his disappearance.
But Remulla said the alleged NBI invitation was a handiwork of his political rival in the province, Sen. Ramon Revilla.
"The alleged NBI invitation is news to me. This lie is a handiwork of Sen. Ramon Revilla, a politician who has dedicated his life to destroying me," Remulla said in a statement.
He also denied that he had a falling out with Dacer, who handled the political campaign of Gov. Bong Revilla in the 1998 elections during which Remulla supported the rival candidate.
In another development, four media groups said Dacer’s disappearance has a chilling effect on journalists, public relations practitioners and all other Filipinos who value their freedom, human rights and democracy.
These groups are the Manila Overseas Press Club, National Press Club of the Philippines, Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc., and the Philippine Press Institute. –With Sandy Araneta, Mike Frialde, Nestor Etolle, Jose Aravilla, Wilfredo Suarez