Malacañang on Friday said it would be up to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to decide whether or not to file a complaint with the Department of Justice (DoJ) in connection with findings that Senator Panfilo Lacson used a fake travel document to return to the country after a year in hiding abroad.
“It’s up to the DFA to pursue the issue” since it was the department that came out with the statement branding Lacson’s travel document as fraudulent, said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte.
Lacson supported President Benigno Aquino III in the last election but could not vote himself because he was on the run after a Manila judge ordered him arrested in connection with the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000. The Court of Appeals later said the judge did not have enough evidence to issue the warrant.
“We will leave that up to the DFA, how they want to pursue that particular matter, because it was the one that came out with the statement. We will have to see what the department’s plan would be,” Valte said cautiously during a news briefing in Malacañang.
DFA Undersecretary for Administration Rafael Seguis said the department was resting its case regarding Lacson’s travel document. The DFA has already communicated its findings to Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, he added.
The travel document bearing the serial number 34258—which Lacson was said to have used when he returned to the country in March—is reportedly with the DFA.
Asked if the DoJ should conduct further investigation into the travel document fraud, Valte said, “I’m not aware of any investigation on that matter because, again, it is entirely up to the Department of Foreign Affairs… if they would coordinate with the Department of Justice.”
Lacson insisted his travel documents were not fake.