Erap unaware of case filed by Dacer daughters in US

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada has no information on the civil suit filed against him by the daughters of slain public relations man Bubby Dacer in the United States.

“I have not received anything on this matter,” he said yesterday. “I do not know what this case is all about. For all I know it could just be a creation of media.”

He was not aware of any such case, aside from unverified reports from the media, he added.

Margaux Salcedo, a spokesperson for Estrada at the time this issue erupted, also denied allegations that the former president had hired lawyers for the civil case in the US.

“That is purely speculation,” she said. “Why will he hire lawyers when he has not been served nor formally informed of the case?” 

Dacer’s daughters Carina and Sabrina filed a million-dollar civil suit last year against Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, businessman Dante Tan, former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chief executive officer Reynaldo Tenorio, former police officers Michael Ray Aquino and Glenn Dumlao and Chief Inspector Vicente Arnado.

In the civil case filed before the US court in San Francisco, Carina and Sabrina Dacer are asking for $10 million in principal compensatory damages and $40 million in punitive damages.

The bases for the Dacers’ case are the Alien Tort Claims Act in the US Code and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991.

Salcedo said these are stunning amounts.

“I hope the Dacer daughters realize that if they are being used by those who proposed this strategy to them to take advantage of former President Estrada, that it will not result in justice but would be a second injustice to Mr. Dacer and to their family.”