De Lima slows down on Lacson’s case

Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima goes away from her usual boldness as she said she would rather wait for the Bureau of Investigation’s (BI) report regarding Senator Panfilo Lacson’s alleged used of fake travel documents before making any remarks of a possible case to be filed on the senator.

“I want to complete the picture first especially because of the senator’s denial. I want to get the facts from the BI to see if the (supposed violations) are really actionable,” De Lima said on Monday on a report posted by inquirer.net.

Sen. Lacson, who has engaged in a virtual word war with the justice secretary, has already denied the claims quoted in the media as saying that his travel papers are authentic.

De Lima however confirmed that she had received a letter from Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Rafael Seguis informing her that there are supposed irregularities on Lacson’s travel documents. Seguis informed the secretary that the serial number that appears on Lacson’s travel papers “has not yet been issued”, as stated on the same report.

She added it was important to wait for BI’s investigation results since the senator is refuting it. “….I’m just waiting for the report of the BI so that I would know if there’s cause for the filing of a case,”. De Lima told the reporters that she would ask Immigration commissioner Ricardo David about the status of the investigation on the issue.

The justice secretary also directed the BI to look through the circumstances of Lacson’s claimed stay abroad despite his cancellation of passport. BI is an attached agency of DOJ.

Sen. Lacson was reportedly in connection with the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. After a yearlong life on the run, Lacson arrived at Mactan Cebu International Airport on March 26.