PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Cavite police to immediately investigate the murder of a key witness to the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, a day before he was supposed to appear to a panel to investigate the case.
Mrs. Arroyo demanded that the police report as fast the findings to the murder of Jimmy Lopez and his female companion in a rented house in Indang town of Cavite province.
Lopez, then a civilian agent of the Lacson-led and defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, was one of the two key witnesses to the celebrated murder of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Lopez, his brother William and two others earlier have executed affidavits regarding their knowledge to the double murders, which happened in 2000.
Other witnesses are now whisked to safety by the Department of Justice and placed under the witness protection program anew, says Secretary Agnes Devanadera.
It may be recalled that former PSSupt Cesar Mancao implicated senator Panfilo Lacson as the mastermind of the celebrated double murder case.
On Lopez’s murder, Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary and concurrent Task Force 211 Chairman Ricardo Blancaflor said the killing was aimed at stopping the reopening of the controversial case against Senator Lacson.
“The killing of Jimmy Lopez is a strong indication that the ‘enemy’ is going to do everything to put a stop to the reopening of the case,” Blancaflor was quoted in an interview.
An investigation is ongoing on the double murder case of Dacer and Corbito, who were garotted, burned and buried off a ravine in Indang town, Cavite province in November 2000.
Unidentified armed suspects shot Lopez and his female companion in his rented house in Cavite province in the wee hours of Sept. 2.
He was supposed to appear on Thursday before the DOJ panel of prosecutors to affirm his testimony in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. (PIA)
