The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Saturday it has tapped the Interpol to arrest opposition Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and has formed tracker team to trace his whereabouts. The Manila Regional Trial Court issued Friday an arrest order for Lacson after he was charged with the murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said they have already contacted the Interpol or International Police to help find the fugitive lawmaker. The PNP, he added, has also sought the help of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime to issue “red notice” for the dissemination of the arrest warrant against Lacson in other countries. “We have coordinated with the Interpol and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime for the issuance of a red notice against Senator Lacson. We expect the 180 Interpol member-countries to help us locate and arrest him,” Estipona said. According to the Interpol, a red notice will allow arrest warrants issued by the local courts to be circulated worldwide. But it clarified on its website that a red notice is not considered an “international arrest warrant.” The notice can be enforced in countries that have an extradition treaty with the requesting country. The Philippines has extradition treaties with 10 countries, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. Also Saturday, three police teams went to Lacson's residence in Paranaque City and his ancestral house in Imus, Cavite, to serve the arrest warrant. But as expected, the police did not find Lacson in both places. The senator earlier sent media a press statement that he had left the Philippines on Jan. 5 but did not say where he went. Records from the Bureau of Immigration confirmed this, Estipona said. But the Bureau of Immigration said Lacson left for Hong Kong. Earlier reports said he has gone to Australia from Hong Kong. Dacer, a public relations man, and his driver were kidnapped in Makati City on Nov. 24, 2000. Five months later, their charred remains were found in a creek in Cavite. In May 2001, the Department of Justice filed two counts of murder against 22 persons, including ranking police officials. Lacson was included in the charge sheet last month following the testimony of former Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao that Lacson ordered the 2000 abduction and killing of Dacer. At that time, Lacson was police chief in the government of former president Joseph Estrada, who was also alluded to have had a hand in the killings. But Estrada has not bee charged for lack of evidence against him. Meanwhile, former Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez said he believes Lacson will be convicted in the case because of his “very weak line of defense.” Lacson has said that he was out of the country when the crime happened. “The case is strong ... Ping's problem is that his defense is his alibi. He said he was not here at the time. (This) alibi is the weakest possible defense in a criminal case,” Gonzalez said in a radio interview. Gonzalez also said he believes Lacson would soon be arrested. “I don't think he can hide from this forever,” Gonzalez said, adding that Lacson should realize that evading the authorities would damage his stature as a senator.
