Dacer-Corbito slay suspect to be extradited to PH soon – DoJ chief

MANILA, Philippines – Former police officer Michael Ray Aquino, one of the suspects in the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, may be extradited from the United States within a few weeks, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Thursday.

De Lima said she was awaiting a formal note from the US justice department informing the Philippine government “that the extradition process has been completed.”

“And once there is an official confirmation, they would be ready to extradite and we would be sending a representative who will be coordinating with the US representative. We have to pick him up [from the US] because he’s an accused. There is a case pending where he is one of the accused and his extradition should be properly implemented,” De Lima said at a press conference.

Aquino, detained in the US after being found guilty of espionage in 2007, has lost his fight against extradition after a US district court denied his appeal for reconsideration of its decision to extradite him to the Philippines to face trial.

Aquino was considered to be one of the closest aides of Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who was also implicated in the murders.

Lacson emerged from a year in hiding from the law after a Court of Appeals quashed a warrant for his arrest.