ILOILO CITY—Ousted President Joseph Estrada is keeping his distance from Sen. Panfilo Lacson, his former fair-haired boy who has left the country to evade arrest.

“He is no longer under me. He is a senator now. I think he is intelligent [enough] to know what to do,” Estrada said on Wednesday night when asked to comment on Lacson’s statement on Tuesday that he had fled and that his indictment for the November 2000 Dacer-Corbito murders constituted “harassment” by the Arroyo administration.

Estrada, the standard-bearer of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, visited Iloilo City in the company of his running mate, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.

The ousted leader told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he did not want to give “unsolicited advice” to Lacson, his former friend and ally who headed the elite Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force and the Philippine National Police during his abbreviated administration.

He added that the opposition senator “knows how to defend himself and knows what he is doing.”

The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed charges against Lacson on Jan. 7 for the kidnapping and murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

Conduct unbecoming

The charges were based on the sworn statement of Lacson’s former police aide, Cezar Mancao II, who alleged that he had heard the senator order the killing of Dacer on the instruction of a certain “Bigote (Moustache).”

In an e-mail to the Inquirer, one of Dacer’s four daughters yesterday assailed Lacson for taking flight.

“It seems to be unbecoming of a senator,” said Carina Dacer, who is based in the United States. “His actions are very puzzling and a little bit too defensive. We just hope that he would stop hiding behind this ‘politically motivated’ reason and face the charges in court.”

Carina Dacer was responding to a request from the Inquirer for comment on Lacson’s claim that an “evil conspiracy” between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the DoJ had forced him to leave the country.

Lacson flew to Hong Kong on Jan. 5. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he had heard that his colleague was in Australia.

Carina Dacer said she and her sisters still had to see how Lacson’s flight would impact on the charges they had filed in court.

“At this time, I am unsure if it would weaken or strengthen the case. But of course we will study all options,” she said.

She added that the family would issue an official statement shortly.

‘Your time’s up’

For the second straight day, former civilian antinarcotics agent Mary “Rosebud” Ong challenged Lacson to return and show up in court.

“Your time is up and you better come home because this is ... your chance to defend yourself,” she said in a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Ong accused Lacson of drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and summary executions in 2001. She remains in the custody of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and under the Witness Protection Program.

According to Ong, Lacson as a senator should set an example to the Filipino people and follow the law.

“We are just witnesses, but we ate threats for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and for many, many years we suffered. But we followed the rule of law,” she said.

Ong said Lacson left the country just as the DoJ had summoned her for the preliminary investigation of the kidnapping of Chinese nationals Chong Hiu Ming and Wong Kam Chong.

She said the two suspected leaders of a drug syndicate were abducted and subsequently murdered, and that Lacson was involved in the killings.

“Flight is a very clear sign of your guilt,” Ong said at the press conference, addressing Lacson.

“You are a lawmaker, but you are a top-class lawbreaker,” she said.

‘Not guilty’

Lacson has repeatedly denied having anything to do with the Dacer-Corbito murders, and has insinuated Estrada’s own involvement.

The ousted President has made his own denials.

On Tuesday, Lacson said his departure did not mean that he was guilty of the accusations against him.

“I cannot risk putting my life and security at the mercy of that evil conspiracy,” he said. Reports from Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas; Fe Zamora and Jocelyn R. Uy in Manila