Foreign office says going after Lacson depends on DOJ
MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs disagrees with Malacañang that it is up to the foreign office to decide whether to file a case with the justice department in connection with its findings that Senator Panfilo Lacson used a fake travel document to return to the country after a year in hiding abroad to evade arrest in connection with the Dacer-Corbito murder case.
“There is really nothing more to say, as far as the DFA is concerned,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez told the Inquirer Saturday. “We already wrote a letter to DOJ about it. It is now up to DOJ on what to do about it.”
The other day, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told Palace reporters “it’s up to the DFA to pursue the issue.”
Valte said they would “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.”
Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for Administration Rafael Seguis said Thursday the DFA had done its part with respect to Lacson’s controversial travel document. After investigating the matter, the DFA said the travel document Lacson presented at the Mactan International Airport on March 26 was a forgery.
“For the record, I have formally informed (DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima) concerning the travel document referred to (in a March 31 letter to the justice department)… That speaks for itself,” said Seguis.
Lacson has insisted his travel papers were authentic.
He claimed “the travel document that I used is still with me. I have no doubt it is authentic. It was issued by a consul assigned to the country where I exited to go back to our country.”
Lacson backed President Benigno Aquino 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 “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, in 2000.
The Court of Appeals later ruled the judge did not have enough evidence to issue the warrant for Lacson’s arrest.
Early this week, Felipe Cariño, executive director of the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs, told reporters that Lacson’s travel document was fake.
The authentic document bearing the same number was never issued by the DFA-OCA, Cariño said.
