The family of missing publicist Salvador 'Bubby' Dacer expressed grief yesterday as forensic experts confirmed the bones and teeth that were recovered in Cavite southern Luzon belong to him and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

"The news has confirmed our worst fears. It has broken our hearts. Now is the beginning of our search for truth and justice. The question to be answered is who did it and why," said a statement from the family.

The Dacer family received on Tuesday night the report of forensic expert Racquel del Rosario Fortun of the University of the Philippines (UP) who confirmed that the bones and teeth fragment found along the creek in Indang, Cavite last month were determined as those of Dacer and his driver's who were reported missing last November 24.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which assisted the UP forensic experts, had recovered the bones and teeth fragments only after suspects Jimmy Lopez and Alex Diloy brought them to the scene of the murder last month.

Vino was the one who had supervised the killing of Dacer and Corbito, said the two suspects who became state witnesses. "The way they were killed was brutal and barbaric," said the Dacer family, adding, "Our wish was that they were still alive." Lopez and Diloy said they were civilian PAOCTF agents. They and other PAOCTF members were involved in the double murder. Most of the suspects belong to Vino's unit, they added.

Earlier, a parish priest in Indang said no one was buried on the site where police probers claimed that Dacer and his driver were buried. "I am quite sure that they were not buried there," said Gabriel Baldostamon, parish priest of Our lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Sun Valley Subdivision Paranaque, when he recently went to the site.

Baldostamon added that former National Security chief Jose Almonte told the Dacer family that if Dacer resurfaced, he should be brought to the U.S. and the family must keep quiet about it.

Earlier, Almonte presented two letters dated October, which he received from Dacer, with the latter saying he was afraid for his life because former president Joseph Estrada had berated him during a meeting at the presidential palace. Estrada was suspicious that Dacer was responsible for the 'destabilisation campaign' of the opposition.

Dacer's daughter Ampy confirmed having witnessed Estrada raising his voice during a meeting with her father in Malacanang, the presidential palace. On the other hand, the Estrada camp, blamed former president Fidel Ramos for the murder because Dacer was about to meet Ramos at the Manila Hotel when the former went missing on November 24.

Initial reports said last month that they had strangled, burned, and buried their two victims beside a creek in Indang, Cavite, several hours after they were snatched from their vehicle in San Andres Manila on November 24.

Estrada and Ramos were engaged in an intense word-war, following their exchange of counter-accusations when the NBI invited both of them to give statement on the Dacer murder.
Estrada said Dacer often invited danger by taking two rival clients at one time.

The involvement of PAOCTF agents in the double-murder case has tainted former PAOCTF chief and Police Chief Panfilo Lacson who is now campaigning for a seat in the Senate. He is believed to be an Estrada loyalist.