Witnesses in Lacson case fear for lives

Two witnesses against former police chief Panfilo Lacson in the alleged rub-out case of arrested bank robbers in 1995, now fear for their lives with the revival of the case.

"The danger I now face is 10 times greater than before," said former reporter Armando Capili, one of the original witnesses in the case, who said the police shot at the handcuffed bank robbers who belonged to the Kuratong Baleleng Gang.

Capili, then a reporter for Remate Tonite, a tabloid, admitted he was an undercover police agent and was present when the police team raided the hideout of the suspects in suburban Paranaque City.

He dropped out of the government witness protection programme after he sensed the case was going nowhere in 1999. Sources alleged that he stopped talking after he received $8,000 from Lacson.

"In 1997, the complainants withdrew from the case. Then a star witness left for abroad. I was left alone. I had no choice but to withdraw as a witness," he said in an interview.

Another witness, police officer Corazon de la Cruz, said earlier that the killing of the bank robbers was a rub-out case.

He has shunned the media since returning to his native Ilocos Norte, northern Luzon, when the court dropped the case in 1999. Nothing was heard of him since. Rumours said he had died. De la Cruz was a police investigator at the Criminal and Investigation Command.

"I want to live a quiet normal life. If the case is reopened and the courts order me to testify, I'll have to consult my lawyer. For now, I can't tell whether I will testify," he said.

Principal witness, police officer Eduardo de los Reyes said the police's anti-bank robbery and intelligence task force killed the 11 members of the Kuratong Baleleng Gang, who could not fight because they were handcuffed.

The alleged execution took place after the police arrested them from their hideout in suburban Paranaque City on May 14, 1995.