MANILA, Philippines?Members of the Bentain family and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) held a Mass Monday morning to celebrate the 46th birthday of Edgar Bentain, who was abducted outside a Manila casino more than a decade ago and was never seen again.

Bentain was a video operator at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) who was suspected of leaking a video showing former President Joseph Estrada playing high-stakes baccarat with Charlie ?Atong? Ang at the VIP room of the casino.

Suspicion fell on the subjects of the video for his disappearance but the case has yet to be solved.

?It hurts my family to see that he (Estrada) is coming back. If there is really justice in this country, he will not be allowed to return. I would rather he foregoes running (in the 2010 presidential elections),? Bentain?s brother Edzel said.

The gambling tape was used against Estrada in the 1998 presidential campaign by a rival candidate. The law forbids government officials from gambling in casinos.

?The scars are still fresh. We are still in the healing period. We have not gotten justice for Edgar. We still do not know what happened to Edgar,? Edzel said.

Edzel told the Philippine Daily Inquirer he hoped the 10-year-old mystery would not be condemned to obscurity like the dilapidated structure of the Grand Boulevard Hotel on Roxas Boulevard which was shut down in July 2008.

?The hotel has already closed down and yet we still do not have any idea what happened to my brother,? said Edzel. The hotel (then named Silahis Hotel) was where Edgar was snatched by a group of armed men on Jan. 16, 1999.

Edzel appealed to Sen. Panfilo Lacson to follow through on his expose and divulge everything he knows of his brother?s disappearance.

In a recent privilege speech, Lacson, who served as national police chief during Estrada?s short-lived administration, hinted that the former president may have had something to do with the murder but did not provide solid leads. Estrada has denied it.

Edgar?s father, the late Eduardo Bentain, was the longtime police chief on the University of the Philippines campus.

Edzel also lamented that the people responsible for airing the video footage that endangered Edgar had also disappeared.