Ebdane ‘coddling’ 7 PAOCTF men in Dacer case?

Is Chief Supt. Hermogenes Ebdane, head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, coddling the seven PAOCTF agents allegedly involved in the abduction of PR man Salvador "Bubby" Dacer on Nov. 24 last year?

Two highly-reliable sources in the law enforcement community have confirmed to The STAR that the new PAOCTF chief had been coddling the men of his predecessor Director General Panfilo Lacson, now a senatorial wannabe.

"There is loose talk at Camp Crame that Ebdane has established a modus vivendi (compromise agreement) with Lacson. He has reportedly coddled or given sanctuary to Lacson’s proteges, like the Acop brothers, in his turf," the insider disclosed.

Ebdane, according to the informant, is secretly supporting Lacson’s candidacy. The favorite cop of ousted President Estrada reportedly wants to get back at acting PNP chief Leandro Mendoza once he gets the Senate seat and try to install Ebdane as his replacement.

Investigators from the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation have complained that the reluctance of the seven PAOCTF agents have been their stumbling block in solving the Dacer case.

The probers who sought anonymity said these officers have refused to cooperate with them, particularly those who unlawfully raided the house near Dacer’s residence in Sun Valley Subdivision in Parañaque, three days before he disappeared.

NBI agents believe the PAOCTF men, now charged at the Department of Justice, only used the house, which is just three houses away from Dacer’s, as a "listening and observation post."

The seven officers who turned down summons sent by the NBI were Inspectors Wilson Pedido (team leader) and Dionisio Bonoy, Senior Police Officer 4 Willy Nuas, SPO2 Gomercito Cagnayo, SPO1 Adlaido Celario, PO3 Roco Matic and PO3 Edmund Gacuti.

PNP and NBI sources said Ebdane even "refused to endorse" the PAOCTF men to them, even if only to shed light on Dacer’s mysterious disappearance, which is more than three months now.

NBI agents don’t discount the possibility that these cops were indeed involved in the abduction of Dacer and his driver Manuel Corbito, considering that they claimed to have seized drugs and firearms in the house of Dacer’s neighbor, but didn’t declare these officially in court.