There have been intelligence information that fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson may just be hiding in the country, National Bureau of Investigation director Magtanggol Gatdula said on Friday.
After a meeting with Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Gatdula said his men will intensify the manhunt for Lacson, as well as verify the reported sightings of the senator, who fled the country in January this year.
"There are intelligence reports [that Lacson is in the country], but we are still verifying these. That is why we met with the Secretary of Justice, who told us to coordinate efforts. We are still verifying. The reports come and go, and ever since we have been checking that," said Gatdula, a former subordinate of Lacson at the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime task Force (PAOCTF).
For her part, De Lima said she and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo will study the possibility of offering a reward for informants who could help locate the senator.
"The bounty, that is still subject to study," De Lima said.
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De Lima also said there is no longer need to create a special task force to track down Lacson because the NBI has since formed a special team to look for him.
"There has always been a team. So it's just about intensifying the manhunt. But as to the details, I cannot tell you. Because all the information that the NBI got so far are being validated," she said.
Earlier, De Lima had expressed embarrassment because the government still cannot locate Lacson even if the International Crime Police Organization (Interpol) has been tapped to help in the efforts of finding the fugitive senator.
Likewise, the Department of Foreign Affairs has cancelled Lacson's passports to limit his movements.
It was then that De Lima vowed to take a more "hands-on" approach in finding Lacson.
"I'm supposed to be in charge of this because we [the DOJ] are the prosecutors. We're trying to uphold the rule of law. That should be respected, that should be implemented because it's not good for our justice system that [arrest] warrants are not seriously regarded," she said. — RSJ
