Michael Ray in NBI custody within 3 weeks

MANILA, Philippines - Former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino is set to return within three weeks to face trial for the 2000 murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Aquino will be detained at the Manila City Jail.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo, who heads the panel prosecuting the case, said Aquino would be presented to the Manila Regional Trial Court immediately after his arrival.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents will fetch Aquino from the United States next month on orders of Secretary De Lima.

De Lima ordered NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula to take custody of Aquino from the US on or before July 3. The order is contained in a memorandum dated June 10.

De Lima ordered Gatdula to assign at least two NBI agents to escort Aquino back to the Philippines. 

Gatdula was directed to submit the names of the two NBI agents, as well as their itinerary, to the Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Office of Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III. The DOJ will then inform the US justice attaché. 

On June 9, US Justice Attaché Robert Courtney III advised the DOJ in a letter to Paras that on June 7 the US Department of State signed the Surrender Warrant for the return to the Philippines of Aquino pursuant to the extradition treaty between the Philippines and the US. A copy of the Surrender Warrant was also sent to the DOJ.

Courtney said US marshals are prepared to transport Aquino from New Jersey to Los Angeles to facilitate his transfer to Filipino law enforcement authorities.

Aquino must be removed from the US on or before July 3, 2011, he added.

Courtney requested the DOJ to advise them of the pickup schedule as soon as possible so they can coordinate with the US Marshal Service. Courtney also asked the DOJ to submit the travel itinerary for each representative of the NBI.

De Lima’s office also received from the US State Department the official surrender warrant for Aquino’s return to the Philippines pursuant to the extradition treaty. 

De Lima said Aquino’s return would pave the way for the DOJ’s reinvestigation of the murder case.

“I hope he (Aquino) will cooperate with our reinvestigation of the (Dacer-Corbito) case,” she said. “We need to talk to the key players. We want to hear again everything they knew about the incident so we would know the truth in this double murder case because up to now it is still not clear who the brains or mastermind was.” 

Aquino’s extradition became final after US Court of Appeals denied his appeal of the order of the US District Court of New Jersey.

Demetrio Custodio Jr., counsel for the Dacer family, welcomed Aquino’s extradition but said it might weaken the case against Sen. Panfilo Lacson. 

“If he is able to survive cross examination, it will indeed weaken the case of the People vs Senator Lacson,” he said.

The Dacer family has challenged before the Supreme Court the CA ruling clearing Lacson in the double murder case. 

The DOJ did not pursue the same option and instead decided to reinvestigate the case.

Last February, the CA dismissed the two counts of murder for lack of credibility of the testimony of former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao. 

The ruling prompted Lacson to surface after hiding out for over a year.

Routine extradition

The US embassy in Manila said yesterday the extradition of former police officer Aquino will not be treated “differently” and it will be handled by US authorities according to the same routine procedures in other extradition cases of individuals for criminal reasons.

“Cases involving extradition of individuals from the US for criminal reasons are handled according to the Extradition Treaty between the US and the Philippines and US laws and procedures,” said US embassy Press Attaché Rebecca Thompson in a text message to The STAR.

“Any extradition proceedings will be handled according to the same routine procedures and coordinated with the relevant Philippine authorities. The US appreciates the excellent partnership we have with the Philippines in the area of international law enforcement,” she added.

The US Department of State has approved the extradition of Aquino to face trial for the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.

A Surrender Warrant was issued by the State Department that ordered the US Marshal for the District of New Jersey to surrender Aquino to the Philippine Government to face trial.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson welcomed the return of Aquino so he can have his day in court.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “Even ex-Senior Superintendent Aquino must be expecting his return to the country to have his day in court,” he said in a text message.

“Being a former superior, I just hope that he will be accorded a fair trial and treatment, giving due consideration to his physical security when his place of detention is determined by the regional trial court handling his case.”

Lacson believes Aquino would not take the path chosen by Mancao.

“Unlike Mancao, I don’t think Aquino will succumb to pressure and promise of a comfortable life to the point of lying heavily just to satisfy the people with ill motives against me,” he said.

Ferdinand Topacio, Mancao’s lawyer, believes that Aquino’s return is a step forward in the ultimate solution of the Dacer-Corbito murders.

“Colonel Aquino is a crucial piece in the puzzle,” he said.

“His return will make it legally possible for him to personally face the accusations against him in a court of law.”

Topacio hopes that Aquino will tell the “plain, unvarnished truth” regarding what he knows of the crime, including the mastermind.

“We also hope that Colonel Aquino will not succumb to external pressures and influences for him to mislead the investigation in this matter, and that he will help all concerned in the mutual search for truth and justice, so that the nation may finally attain closure in what has become a pestering wound in the national psyche,” he said. –With Sandy Araneta, Marvin Sy, Pia Lee-Brago