GMA confirms Dacer breakthrough

President Arroyo confirmed over the weekend that authorities have made significant breakthroughs in the mysterious disappearance of public relations man Salvador "Bubby" Dacer.

Mrs. Arroyo said "there are headways" in the case of Dacer, who was abducted along with his driver Manuel Corbito while they were waiting for the traffic light to change at a busy intersection in Manila on Nov. 24.

"But we have to wait until the information is validated," the President told reporters in an interview at the Presidential Mansion in Baguio City late Saturday.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, said she cannot give further details on the Dacer case and deferred any announcement on the matter to National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Reynaldo Wycoco.

"I can’t say... I mean, I don’t want to be the one to say," the President said when asked if she believed Dacer was still alive.

Dacer and his driver were abducted by four armed men while on his way to his office at the posh Manila Hotel where he was set to meet with former President Fidel Ramos, one of his powerful clients.

Dacer was supposed to turn over to Ramos certain documents about a "bombshell" that the then-opposition was planning to unleash against the Estrada administration.

Dacer’s white Toyota Revo was later found abandoned in a shallow ravine in Cavite but police did not reveal if forensic evidence was ever found in the vehicle.

Since then, there have been several reports that Dacer’s body was supposedly found in various provinces but all the reports turned out to be false.

The Dacer case has been under the joint investigation of the NBI and the Philippine National Police (PNP) but no headway was gained during the Estrada administration despite emotional public appeals from Dacer’s mother and three daughters.

PNP chief Leandro Mendoza claimed on Feb. 9 that police have identified those behind Dacer’s disappearance but refused to reveal details.

The following day, police sources revealed they would announce within a week the solution of the Dacer kidnapping together with the Feb. 6 slaying of left-wing labor leader Felimon "Popoy" Lagman and the Dec. 30 Metro Manila bombings last year.