Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Group prays for justice for Dacer, Corbito
MEMBERS of the anti-crime group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (Vacc) on Monday trooped to the site in Makati where publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito were abducted eight years ago to pray for justice.
The Vacc members led by their chairman Dante Jimenez held the prayer in light of the recent arrest of former Police Superintendents Cesar Mancao and Glenn Dumlao of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, two of the suspects in the controversial Dacer-Corbito double murder case.
According to Jimenez, relatives and friends of both victims of an alleged execution were invited to the gathering but none came because some are already residing abroad while some were afraid to even come out.
He said they nevertheless lit eight candles to symbolize eight years of waiting for justice.
“We came here to pray in time for the eighth anniversary of the abduction and presumed death of Dacer and Corbito. We are doing this for them on behalf of the family,” he said.
Dacer’s daughter, Karina who is in New York, would come home to the Philippines as soon as the double-murder trial at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) resumes so that she could personally hear Mancao and Dumlao’s testimonies.
“Karina told me that they will also have the same kind of prayer activity in the US,” Jimenez said noting that some of the Dacer’s town mates from Naga City joined the Vacc in its prayer vigil.
One of them, Gloria Painaga, said as a close friend of the publicist, she longed to see the day when his killers are brought to the bar of justice.
“I’m hoping that justice would be served for my friend,” Painaga said.
“Relatives of Corbito are afraid since they have received a lot of threats before. There are some powerful people involved,” Jimenez said.
“My appeal is for the policemen who are now undergoing trial to really spill the beans and tell the truth. This may be another Aquino-Galman wherein the masterminds were able to get away with the crime,” he added.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is working for Mancao and Dumlao’s joint extradition from the US.
In 2002, the DOJ indicted 18 suspects, 11 of them former PAOCTF members, for the crime.
They are Mancao, Dumlao, Boy Arnado, Bobby Lancauan, Boy Caladuan, Mauro Torres, Mario Sarmiento, William Reed, Ruperto Nemeno, Thomas Sarmiento, and one Lacasandile.
Civilian suspects include Crisostomo Purificacion, Diego de Pedro, Renato Malabanan, Margarito Cueno, Rommel Ryal, and two unidentified men.
The 18 men were charged on the basis of the testimony of state witnesses Jimmy Lopez, his brother William, and Alex Diloy. (AH/Sunnex)
