Manila: Panfilo Lacson, a controversial senator who was implicated in the murder of a high-profile publicist and his driver, has emerged from more than year-long hiding from the law after the Interpol struck his name off its list of wanted persons.
Lacson arrived at Mactan Cebu International Airport before noon yesterday via a commercial flight from Hong Kong, Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, national police spokesman said.
A GMA News report quoting Cruz said the senator left Mactan International Airport for Manila at about 4.30pm (12.30 UAE time) aboard a private aircraft.
The Court of Appeals ruled last month that there was no probable cause for the arrest warrant and said the main witness against him — one of his former police aides — was unreliable. The trial court's options could include ordering a reinvestigation or dismissing the case on a motion by Lacson's lawyers.
Lacson, a former national police chief, was one of then President Gloria Arroyo's staunchest critics.
Questions
Lacson's arrival is expected to settle questions over his sudden disappearance last year and clear up allegations over his alleged involvement in the November 2000 murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Lacson was head of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Task Force whose men were allegedly responsible for the crime.
Lacson's former aide, Senior Superintendent Cesar Mancao, who was a senior officer of the special police unit and himself a suspect in the killing, implicated the senator in his testimony.
Lacson left for Hong Kong on January 5, 2010, and in a statement a month later said he was a victim of an alleged conspiracy involving Arroyo and feared for his life in the Philippines.
His lawyers said the senator fled to an undisclosed country because he did not expect a fair treatment under the Arroyo government.
The opposition senator said he had been subjected to political persecution because of his exposes against Arroyo's husband Jose Miguel whom he had accused of using his wife's position as a leverage to secure lucrative contracts with the government.
