Ping must face charges - JPE

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile urged Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday to return home and answer the allegations of complicity in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.

“He (Lacson) should come home and answer the problem,” Enrile said.

Enrile claimed he has no idea where Lacson is after the embattled senator gave notice that he had to leave for abroad last Jan. 5.

“I never talked to (Lacson) by phone. I just received a letter from him. And he told me that he was abroad and that he could not attend the session,” Enrile said.

Lacson left the country while the Department of Justice (DOJ) was preparing the warrant for his arrest on charges of double murder for the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito nine years ago.

Lacson released a statement admitting his escape from the country to avoid what he called “harassment” by the Arroyo administration.

Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said Lacson left for Hong Kong last Jan. 5.

Noting the claims of harassment by Lacson, Enrile said that he was also subjected to harassment during the term of the late former President Corazon Aquino.

Enrile recalled being arrested while at the Senate at that time but stressed he had no qualms about the incident since it would also be an opportunity for him to clear his name.

“I was allowed to deliver a privilege speech before I left the Senate to answer my arrest, and I will do the same thing (if I were Lacson),” Enrile said.

Enrile though stressed he could not speak on behalf of Lacson or compel the senator to return home.

“It’s not my responsibility. Each senator is a free agent, I did not elect them. The people elected them,” Enrile said.

Enrile said his power as Senate president is just for administrative matters. “I handle the administration of the office but I have no control over the members of the Senate, I cannot tell them what to do or what not to do,” he pointed out.

Enrile warned Lacson that he couldn’t invoke his parliamentary immunity to evade arrest since the penalty for the crime he was charged is punishable by more than six years’ imprisonment.

“He can be arrested in the Senate. But what I am saying is that I will not allow him to be arrested in the session hall,” Enrile said.

He said Lacson would still be a member of the Senate even after eventual arrest and detention.

Enrile explained Lacson could still enjoy the perks and the budget of his office as senator because his term is until 2013.

On the other hand, Lacson’s lawyer Alex Avisado said the senator should still be considered a free man in the absence of warrant of arrest.

Avisado said Lacson did not escape the country to evade arrest but due to what his client claimed as an “evil conspiracy” to persecute him.

He said there is no reason to describe Lacson as a “fugitive from justice.”

Avisado said he is still awaiting the issuance of a warrant of arrest for Lacson.

“There is no basis to say he is a fugitive from justice because at the time he left, there was still no case filed against him and even up to now, there is no warrant of arrest issued against him,” Avisado said.

He said the case was submitted for resolution along with their motions for judicial determination for probable cause.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal said Lacson made an embarrassment of government service when he fled to evade arrest.

“He is a lawmaker yet he evaded the law that his institution crafted. Why can’t he be like his former boss?” Macalintal remarked, referring to former President Joseph Estrada.

Macalintal recalled Estrada refused to leave the country even in the face of his arrest on charges of plunder following his ouster in January 2001.

Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said the authorities would bring Lacson back in the event the arrest warrant is issued.

“If people somehow are able (to get) themselves out in a way that may limit the options for the government, we just have to work hard and try to get them back,” he said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they are ready to serve the arrest warrant once the court issues it.

NBI spokesman Ricardo Diaz said there is a possibility that the NBI will be tasked to arrest Lacson either here or abroad once the warrant of arrest is issued.

Diaz said the NBI would work under the extradition treaties with other countries where Lacson might be staying.

He said the Philippine government could invoke its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and Australia, the places where Lacson has reportedly fled to. - Christina Mendez, Aurea Calica, Sandy Araneta