The search for justice by the family of the late Manila publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito who were kidnapped and slain during the time of deposed president Joseph Estrada has hit a new snag when one of the suspects, Michael Ray Aquino, claimed innocence in the twin murders. Aquino, who was lately extradited from the Unites States where he fled as soon as it became clear that he would be implicated in the gruesome killings after Estrada was deposed from power, must at least explain why he fled the country and fought extradition efforts in the first place if he was not involved in the crime. All the police officers linked to the crime were members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), to which he also belonged. The elite police unit was headed by Panfilo Lacson, who became a senator after Estrada's downfall and was himself implicated in the twin murders. It's a puzzle that no one seemed to have been manning the task force at the time when Dacer, who was being driven to his office in Manila by Corbito, was waylaid in broad daylight at the border of Manila and Makati City in November 2000. The task force that had solved significant crime cases during Estrada's watch has miserably failed to make any breakthrough in the disappearance of a high-profile PR man and his driver. It took a long time under a new administration before the charred bodies of the two men were found in a shallow grave in Cavite, just outside Manila. Low-ranking PAOCTF members and several civilians were arrested on charges of direct participation in the kidnapping, torture and murder of Dacer and his driver. A ranking PAOCTF officer tagged in the murders, who might have pinned down the mastermind or at least the overall operations commander in the twin murders, was killed. A former PAOCTF officer, Cezar Mancao II, turned state witness after his extradition from the US, prompting the heirs of Dacer and Corbito to file charges against Lacson, who has also professed innocence, along with those previously charged. But another collaborative testimony is needed to tighten the case against the accused. Michael Ray Aquino could hold the key to this decade-old heinous crime, paving the way for justice for the victims and their families. At the very least, he should explain why he fled the country – something that has long been associated with guilt. If he could not help in securing justice for the families of Dacer and Corbito he must also at least explain why the powerful police unit known for solving high-profile crimes plodded in cracking the Dacer-Corbito killings. It's a shame if the nation wouldn't not even know why the well-known publicist and his driver were seized, tortured and then killed in a gruesome fashion. __
