MANILA, Philippines – A US district court has junked the appeal of former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino against his extradition, paving the way for him to stand trial in the November 2000 murders of public relations man Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Judge Esther Salas of the US District Court of Newark in New Jersey issued a ruling on Oct. 21 approving Aquino’s extradition.
“Once the ruling becomes final, the DOJ shall work on his deportation to face the criminal charges against him here,” she told reporters.
But she stressed that the government would await finality of the decision, which is the resolution of higher courts of possible appeals of Aquino, before moving for his flight to the country.
“I was told that this latest ruling is still appealable to a higher court. So if Michael Ray Aquino avails himself of that remedy, we will have to wait for the ruling,” De Lima said.
She added that the government also has yet to receive official notice of the US court order.
Judge Salas dismissed a motion for reconsideration filed by Aquino and affirmed her one-page order dated March 4, 2010 certifying Aquino’s extradition “to the Secretary of State, together with a copy of all evidence received for this matter.”
The US court is expected to issue a warrant authorizing the commitment of Aquino for his turnover to Philippine authorities.
On Nov. 24, 2000, Dacer and Corbito were snatched at the corner of Zobel Roxas Street and South Super Highway at the boundary of Manila and Makati.
They were subsequently brought to Indang, Cavite where they were killed and burned.
Former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II and former superintendent Glenn Dumlao, both high-ranking officers of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force were also implicated in the crime and extradited back to the country earlier.
Both are now testifying in the decade-old case.
On the other hand, Sen. Panfilo Lacson is also being hunted down by authorities after he was implicated in the case by daughters of Dacer through a statement of Mancao.
Deprived of justice
Meanwhile, a daughter of Dacer expressed disappointment yesterday over the statement of President Aquino that the arrest of Lacson, the primary accused in the murder of her father and his driver was not a priority of his administration.
In a message to The STAR, Carina Dacer said the President must have forgotten one of the key points in his inaugural speech that he knows how it feels to be ignored and become a victim of injustice.
“I am sure he did not mean it the way it came out. He knows how it feels to be deprived of justice.”
Earlier, the President said his priorities are problems that damage the Philippines, be it a natural disaster or crime incidents like kidnapping.
He asked “shall I drop all my concentration in attending to the needs of the victims of the typhoon ‘Juan’ and attend to Senator Lacson? I don’t think you’d argue with that.”
Observers said that the government has different agencies to address various problems and law enforcers’ effort to find fugitives like Lacson would not affect the program to help areas devastated by typhoon Juan.
The President’s pronouncement might be taken by some law enforcers as his not wanting Lacson arrested, thus policemen were hesitant to locate the former chief of Philippine National Police, Dacer said.
She added that she was not surprised with the statement of Mr. Aquino since “Lacson is a senator, his fellow politician and a former colleague.”
Last February, the Manila court issued a warrant of arrest against Lacson. The senator asked the court to reconsider the issuance and order the DOJ to review his case, but the court upheld the issuance of the arrest warrant and denied Lacson’s plea for a reinvestigation.
Before the warrant was issued, Lacson left the country. The court has directed the National Bureau of Investigation to intensify efforts to find Lacson and asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to help limit his movements.
Lacson was reportedly just staying in the country and enjoying protection of powerful individuals. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe