RP government to tap Interpol for Lacson's arrest

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said it was already trying to secure a "Red Notice" from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to expedite the arrest of Senator Panfilo Lacson, who flew out of the country on January 5. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group spokesman Felix Vargas said the PNP has sought assistance from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) to do this. On its website, the Interpol said a Red Notice is not considered an "international arrest warrant," but would only allow arrest warrants issued in local courts to be circulated worldwide. The notice can be enforced in countries with which requesting state has an existing extradition treaty. The Department of Foreign Affairs had said the country has existing extradition treaties with 10 countries. In its continuing search for the senator, members of the PNP-CIDG trooped to one of Lacson's known residences in Parañaque City to serve the arrest warrant for his alleged role in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. However, not only was Lacson missing from the BF Homes residence along Karishma Street, but also no one from the household wanted to receive the warrant being carried by PNP personnel. "Hindi ko po pinirmahan. Wala akong tinanggap. Hindi na siya nakatira dito," caretaker Dolly Manuel, who is the lone person inside the house, told radio dzBB. Manuel said the senator, who reportedly flew to Hong Kong last January, days before the charges were pressed against him, no longer lives in the house and has last visited the property in 2009. She said Lacson's son and namesake, Panfilo Jr, is the current occupant of the residence. After trying their luck at the Senate and the Lacson property in Parañaque, policemen went to the senator's ancestral home in Imus town in Cavite to serve the warrant. A radio dzMM report said a certain Jane Lacson, who identified herself as the senator's niece, received the arrest warrant. Policemen also went to the house of Lacson's older brother, Romulo, to look for the lawmaker. On Friday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives still went to his Senate office in Pasay City to serve the warrant even though they knew Lacson was not there. A staff member of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) received a copy of the arrest warrant while a female janitor received a copy of the same at the office of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. No one answered the door at Lacson's office. Up until now, government authorities are clueless about Lacson's whereabouts. But the PNP-CIDG operatives need to scour all known home and office addresses of the senator just the same. Authorities said it was a standard operating procedure that would form part of evidence to show that the lawmaker is out of the country. "What is important is iyong compliance sa order ng court," said Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona, CIDG deputy chief for operations. There are three teams looking for Lacson in Metro Manila. All regional offices of the CIDG have likewise been furnished copies of the arrest warrant, Estipona said. - LBG, GMANews.TV