Dacer-Corbito case records forwarded to US

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has forwarded records on the double murder case of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito to the US , which could be used to expedite the extradition of former police official Michael Ray Aquino.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said the removal hearing of Police Superintendent Aquino, formerly of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, has been set for tomorrow, April 14, by the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Wycoco said in the US, they no longer call the process deportation hearings but removal hearings.

Aquino was accosted at the Federal Plaza, New York last March 7 for allegedly violating immigration laws. He was able to post $50,000 bail for his temporary liberty.

NBI Interpol chief Ricardo Diaz said they met the deadline and was able to submit pertinent documents on the Dacer-Corbito double murder case last April 7 to the DHS office in Manila.

"This includes the handwritten confession of Inspector Glenn Dumlao, who confessed participation in the murder and implicated PAOCTF officials Aquino and Superintendent Cesar Mancao and Senior Superintendent Teofilo Vina," Diaz said.

Wycoco hinted they had to submit criminal cases that implicate Aquino because he might try to avail of political asylum.

By establishing that there are cases pending against him in the Philippines "it would negate whatever request he might have for political asylum."

"One of the preconditions is that you must not have criminal cases filed against you," he said.

If the US government offers him protection, he might have to stay longer and he might not be deported back to the Philippines. But first, the NBI chief stressed, "he has to prove that he is being politically prosecuted."

The former PAOCTF official was reportedly planning to legalize his stay and work as a nurse in the US before he was detained.

The NBI said the Philippine government cancelled his passport after he arrived in the US, making him an undocumented alien.