MANILA – Although aware that Senator Panfilo Lacson has flown out of the country, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) went to the Senate on Friday afternoon to serve a warrant for his arrest just a few hours after a Manila regional trial court issued it.
Ricardo Diaz, head of the NBI Anti-Terrorism Division, and another agent arrived at the Senate at 3:10 p.m. Friday to serve the warrant on Lacson, who is facing murder charges in the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby'' Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Because there are no more sessions in Congress, Diaz was able to serve the arrest warrant on staff members of the offices of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia.
Diaz said the NBI would consider Lacson a fugitive from the law only after he has served the warrant on the senator's ``known addresses'' and he still can’t be found.
Diaz said now that the warrant has been issued, the NBI would start searching for the senator.
He said Lacson was not in Australia, as earlier believed by some senators, because the Australian government notified the NBI that the senator was not there.
“We will seek the help of International Police and other foreign police units,'' Diaz told reporters.
Lawyers for Lacson will petition the Manila trial court that issued the arrest as soon as they get a copy of the order, according to lawyer Alex Avisado.
``We will also request a deferment or suspension of the enforcement of the arrest order,'' said Avisado, who serves as Lacson's legal spokesperson.
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