Aguirre wants DFA to cancel Lascañas’ passport

Retired police officer Arturo Lascañas. AP FILE

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Thursday said he would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel the passport of retired police officer Arturo Lascañas.

“I will be formalizing a request with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano of the DFA for the immediate cancellation of the passport of Mr. Arturo Lascañas,” Aguirre said in a statement.

Aguirre, in a department order dated June 8, ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to coordinate with International Police (Interpol) to locate Lascañas.

Lascañas left the Philippines with his family onboard Tiger Airways flight 2703 for Singapore last April 8. His return ticket was April 22, 2017, but Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Maria Antonette Bucasas Mangrobang said they had no record of his return. Mangrobang said they could not ascertain if Singapore was his final destination or a stopover.

“Verily, his acts manifest his lack of desire to face the charges of murder and attempted murder filed against him in the Regional Trial Court of Davao City… If he believes in his innocence then he should welcome his arrest as a chance for him to clear his name and get on with his life,” Aguirre said in the same statement.

“However, if he is guilty, we cannot tolerate his continuing flight. As it is said, when a crime goes unpunished, the world is unbalanced and the heavens will look down on us in shame,” he added.

Last June 5, the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 10 issued a warrant of arrest for Lascañas for the 2003 killing of journalist Jun Pala.

Earlier, Lascañas testified in the Senate and admitted his involvement in Pala’s killing as a member of the alleged Davao Death Squad. He claimed that it was Duterte who ordered the murder of Pala. CBB/rga