Dacer killers likely to be revealed on poll day

Authorities reiterated their refusal to identify the mastermind behind the murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, on November 24, saying it would be made on the day of the elections on May 14.

"The suspense being created by the investigators smacks of politics," said a critic from the opposition who requested anonymity. "We have to be sure that the witnesses are secured and safe so that they would be able to tell everything during the trial," said one investigator.
He added that the date of the revelation on the May 14 elections is "just coincidental, and not planned".

Former police chief Panfilo Lacson who is running for the senate was implicated in the double murder case because of "command responsibility", said another source. The arrested people involved in the double murder case belonged to the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Task Force which he headed during the time of former president Joseph Estrada.

Meanwhile, a suspect revealed how the grisly murder took place, saying that Dacer and his driver were killed by strangulation. "It was a slow process. The rope tied around their necks was tied to a tree from where they were hanged until they choked," a suspect was quoted as saying by a source who was privy to the recent interrogation.

The operation was over in nine hours, according to the suspect, who added that four groups were tasked to carry out the plan. Each group had a specific task such as the planning of the abduction, surveillance, the actual abduction, and the murder. The group of SPO4 Marino Soberano headed the team that surveyed the Dacer residence at Sun Valley Subdivision in southern suburban Para'aque.

Police Supt. Glenn Dumlao made the two victims appear as kidnappers, said Jimmy Lopez and Alex Diloy, both from southern suburban Indang, Cavite, where the murder happened.

Lopez claimed that it was his brother, William, who strangled Dacer using a length of electrical cable. He pointed to Digo de Pedro as the one who strangled Corbito. Dacer and Corbito were tied and strangled before their bodies were burned in a bonfire of rubber and wood. Lopez and Diloy yielded to police authorities last month and admitted to their part in the killing of Dacer and Corbito.