MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo believes Senator Panfilo Lacson is hiding abroad but is ready to show up.
On the sidelines of the World Water Day celebration, Robredo believes Lacson is about to surface soon.
“I think there are [feelers already], because there is already an impression that he is outside the country,” he said.
Robredo said the tracker team that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) created did not see Lacson anywhere in the country.
“There are a lot of false leads. When we verify, the leads turn out to be wrong. There have been leads that he is in Quezon City, in Batangas, in Cebu...but there really is none,” he said.
“This means if we can’t find him here, he’s outside the country…In all likelihood, very likely, he’s out of the country,” he said.
In a 16-page resolution dated March 18, the Court of Appeals stood pat on its decision quashing the murder charges and the consequent warrant of arrest against Lacson.
Lacson has been linked to the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Manuel Corbito.
The senator went into hiding in early 2010 even before the Manila trial court, where the case is lodged, could come out with a warrant of arrest. He blamed political persecution as a reason for his hiding.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has yet to notify the International Police of the need to already lift its red alert against Lacson.
Nonetheless, Robredo still urged the fugitive senator to face the public the soonest.
“It’s high time that he attend to his obligations in the Senate. There are a lot of things happening there that need his attention,” he said.
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