WHERE IN THE WORLD is Sen. Panfilo Lacson?
He cannot be in Australia?as Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel said earlier?because his visa to travel to that country expired in 2008 and has not been renewed, lawyer Ric Diaz, the chief of the National Bureau of Investigation?s counterterrorism unit, said Friday.
Lacson cannot be in the United States either because, Diaz said, ?his US visa was cancelled after he was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the espionage case involving Michael Ray Aquino and [Leandro] Aragoncillo.?
The NBI will coordinate closely with the foreign intelligence community and the Interpol to track Lacson down, Diaz told the Inquirer.
?There was previously no reason to monitor Lacson?s movements. But with the issuance of a warrant for his arrest, we will have to pinpoint his location and bring him back so he can face the charges against him,? Diaz said.
Lacson flew to Hong Kong on Jan. 5. Diaz said he could still be in the former British colony, or he could have jumped off from there to any other Asian country.
Only 10 nations
The Australian Embassy in Makati City neither confirmed nor denied reports that Lacson might have fled to Australia.
The embassy spokesperson, Public Affairs Manager Jemain Diaz De Rivera, told the Inquirer that there was ?no statement yet? on the issue.
In a news conference, J. Eduardo Malaya, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said it would do its part in effecting Lacson?s arrest through ?the extradition route.?
Malaya said the Philippines had extradition treaties with only 10 countries?Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Micronesia, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States.
He said the extradition treaties with Spain and India were ?pending concurrence by the Senate.?
Malaya said the DFA was ?awaiting guidelines from the Department of Justice on how to proceed on this matter.?
?The secretary of justice (Agnes Devanadera) is the chief lawyer of the government,? and ?it may take some time for the DOJ to formalize its communications with the DFA,? he said.
Up to NBI
Devanadera told reporters ?it?s now up to the NBI to determine where Lacson really is and to serve the arrest warrant.?
She said the procedure of arrest would depend on the information gathered by the NBI on Lacson?s whereabouts.
?If there is no extradition treaty where Lacson is, there are other ways. We have mutual legal assistance treaties with countries,? Devanadera said.
