Dacer camp welcomes Lacson's speech vs Erap

The family of slain publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer on Monday welcomed the scathing privilege speech by Senator Panfilo Lacson against former President Joseph Estrada.

A report aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras" quoted Demettrio Custodio, Jr., the lawyer of the Dacer family, as saying that Lacson’s speech had strengthened their bid to include Estrada in the charge sheet.

Custodio said they have already filed a motion before the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking to include Estrada in the list of perpetrators in the kidnap-slay case of Dacer and Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

"If you consider the affidavit in the testimony of Mister Mancao where he clearly implicated former President Joseph Estrada... now comes here the good senator also trying to implicate Mister Estrada," Custodio said.

Mancao was a member of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), which was headed by Lacson during Estrada’s term. In his affidavit executed on February 13, 2009, he linked Lacson and Estrada to the Dacer-Corbito case.

He said Lacson's speech could open “new developments" in the case.
In his privilege speech on Monday, Lacson virtually denied participation in the killings as he accused Estrada of micro-managing the PAOCTF to the point of giving "direct orders" to its members during his presidency.

Custodio said he is hoping that Lacson would divulge Estrada's exact participation in the case in his next privilege speech.

Mancao's camp, however, was not pleased with Lacson's speech.

“He’s hiding behind the cloak of parliamentary immunity. He should be man enough to answer in court and go outside the confines of the Senate," said Ferdinand Topacio in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 is investigating the case while the DOJ is looking into the complaint filed by Dacer’s daughters against Lacson.

Topacio said Lacson’s statements linking Estrada to the killings could not be considered as evidence in court