Dacer sisters want more time on Supreme court petition

MANILA, Philippines—The daughters of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer on Friday asked the Supreme Court for more time to file their petition against a Court of Appeals decision dismissing the murder case they filed against Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and nullifying his arrest warrant.

“This motion is not intended for delay but is being filed due to the exigencies of the situation,” said the daughters through law firm Ongkiko, Manhit, Custodio & Acorda.

They asked for another 10 days, or until April 18, to file their motion, citing the lack of time to reproduce the annexes needed for the motion.

Under the rules of court, the Dacer sisters had until Friday to file a petition asking the high tribunal to review the decision of the appellate court, after it denied their motion asking the Court of Appeals to reverse its Feb. 3 decision that found no probable cause to indict Lacson for their father’s murder.

The Dacer sisters’ lawyers received the appellate court decision denying the motion for reconsideration last March 25, within which they have 15 days to file a petition before the Supreme Court.

On April 5, the lawyers sent the petition to Carina Dacer, who is in New York, for her review and signature on the verification and certification of non-forum shopping.

“While the undersigned counsel received the documents from the United States at midday today, the reproduction of the annexes has not been completed, as each set consists of about 1,200 pages and a total of 24 sets are required for this petition,” said lawyer Demetrio Custodio in the motion.

In an earlier interview, Custodio said the Dacers would ask the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the appellate court’s decision, which meant the arrest warrant against Lacson would be revived.

Custodio said that he hoped Lacson would not flee anew if the high tribunal grants their petition.

Lacson went into hiding for more than a year to avoid the arrest warrant issued against him by a Manila trial court. He resurfaced a few weeks ago after the arrest warrant was cancelled.