Missing Ping

WHEN suspected criminals are caught, they take mug shots and stand in front of a judge. But before justice is sought, the suspect must first be found.
In an endeavor that has been brewing for a year now, the Philippine government headed by Pres. Benigno Aquino III and Justice Secretary Leila De Lima have turned up the heat, doubling efforts in search of the county’s one of the most controversial politicians, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. But there’s still no sign of Ping Lacson.
Pres. Aquino and Justice Secretary De Lima took a direct hand in the search for Sen. Lacson who has been missing since last year after being charged with a twin-murder case for the killing of publicist Salvador “Bobby” Dacer and Dacer’s driver, Emmanuel Corbito.
The former chief of the Philippine National Police said before that, “what is right must be kept right; what is wrong must be set right.” Now he seems to be a walking irony since the authorities have still failed to capture the fugitive of justice.
Earlier last year, rumors surfaced that Sen. Lacson left the country; some said that his departure from the country was a sign of guilt. Various reports arose of Lacson to be hiding in the United States, Rome, Australia or “somewhere in Asia,” particularly Hong Kong, China or Taiwan. The government has been searching for Lacson abroad but he has remained elusive. A recent speculation is that he may have returned to the Philippines.
Last January 4, Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo urged Sen. Lacson to surface and face the law. “He ran [for senator] so it means he trusts the government… in other words, he has to face the law because after all, he is a senator of the law,” the senior Catholic bishop said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Lacson’s colleagues in the Senate came to the reviled senator’s defense.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that Sen. Lacson did not commit any unethical standard when he evaded the warrant of arrest against him and that what the fugitive senator did was just a “natural reaction.”
Senators Gregorio Honasan, Jinggoy Estrada and Vicente Sotto III all agreed that there is no need for an expulsion from the senate because the fugitive senator has not pleaded guilty, and there’s no reason for them to do so.
The search for Sen. Lacson continues to be a puzzle that seems to get more difficult to solve the longer it takes to find him. Law enforcers have scoured the country and neighboring countries but still fail to make the senator come out of hiding. The question whether he is guilty or not is yet to be answered. He pleaded innocent but is too cagey to face the justice. Conjectures will continue to come unless the case comes to a formal conclusion. Justice must run its course.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(SF Jan 7-13, 2010 Sec A pg. 8)