ShareThisCAMP CRAME, Quezon City – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has intensified its hunt for fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson.
In addition to the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have joined the manhunt.
In fact, PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo assured there will be no special treatment for fugitive senator when he is arrested.
“I would like to assure our people that in the event that Senator Lacson is arrested, he will not be given special treatment. Only due process of law, I can assure you that,” Bacalzo said.
Lacson has been tagged as the principal suspect in the twin killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.
Bacalzo said that tracker teams from the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) have already started intensified manhunt operations to effect the arrest warrant issued against Lacson, who once served as chief of the 130,000-strong police organization.
“We have fielded dedicated tracker teams under the CIDG to look out for and effect the arrest of Senator Lacson,” Bacalzo said.
He admitted the PNP is receiving varying reports regarding the whereabouts of Lacson, the latest of which is that the fugitive senator is still out of the country.
“As of now, we have to admit that there are reports that he has gone out of the country; that’s the latest of the reports that we have obtained. We have no report that he has gone back to the country,” the PNP chief said.
Lacson was reported to have flown out of the country last January to Hong Kong, shortly before an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.
Bacalzo said he has tasked specific teams to follow up every report regarding Lacson.
Earlier this week, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) swooped down on a paper mill compound in Quezon City in its hunt against Lacson but the operation yielded negative results.