As justice for their father remains elusive in the Philippine court system, the daughters of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer on Friday (Manila time) filed in a United States court a case against former President Joseph Estrada, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and five others.
The Dacers are seeking for a $20 million compensatory damage and $100 million punitive damages, their counsel, lawyer Demetrio Custodio, told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.
Those who filed the case were Carina Dacer, Sabrina Dacer-Reyes, Amparo Dacer-Henson and Emily Dacer-Hungerford.
In the 19-page complaint, also named as accused, aside from Estrada and Lacson, were:
* Former BW president and chief executive officer Dante Tan;
* Former head and chief executive officer of the Philippine Games and Amusement Corp. (PAGCOR) Reynaldo Butch Tenorio;
* Former Sr Supt. Michael Ray Aquino;
* Former police Supt. Glenn Dumlao, and
* Former Chief Inspector Vicente Arnado.
Successful publicist
Dacer was a successful publicist whose clients were top figures in Philippine politics such as Estrada and former President Fidel Ramos. In 2000, Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, were abducted and killed.
The reasons for their deaths are still unclear but at that time, Estrada was mired in a corruption scandal. Estrada later stepped down from office as hundreds of thousands of people marched to the streets to call for his resignation.
Human rights abuses
He said the Dacers, who are now based in the US, cited the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act, both American statutes, in filing the damage suit.
The said statutes allow US courts to hear cases of human rights abuses brought by foreign citizens against officials of a foreign government for conduct committed anywhere in the world.
“The court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendants (Dacers), almost all of whom are either present in the United States, have assets in the United States, and/or otherwise are availing themselves, their families and their properties, of the security and/or sanctuary of the United States," the Dacers said in the complaint.
It was the first time that a case was filed against Estrada with regard to the double murder case. Estrada was Amparo Dacer-Henson’s godfather in baptism and wedding.
Cruel and inhuman
In the complaint, the Dacers narrated the incidents which allegedly led to the murder of their father and the supposed participation of the accused in the crime.
They said the accused “exceeded the authority vested in them as government officials under customary international law of human rights and the law of nations.
They said the accused subjected their father to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, torture and extra-judicial killing."
“Said cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, torture and extra-judicial killing of Plaintiffs’ father were carried out by Defendants under actual or apparent authority, or color of law, of the Philippines under the administration of then-President Estrada," the complaint stated.
The Dacers are seeking a jury trial for the case.
No comment on the issue
In a text message to GMANews.TV, Margaux Salcedo, Estrada’s spokesperson, said they cannot comment on the issue yet as “we have not received any official information."
Lacson, who has been in hiding since January this year, was named as one of the principal suspect in the November 24, 2000 murder case.
At that time, Lacson was the head of the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the unit implicated in the twin murders.
Dumlao was extradited to the Philippines in July 2009, more than six years after he fled to the United States in May 2003.
Tan was implicated in the BW stock manipulation scandal. He reportedly fled the Philippines and is now residing in the US.
Tenorio is reportedly in the US now while Aquino remains detained also in the US, serving his sentence for espionage.
According to the Dacers, Arnado has reportedly been residing in the US since 2002. –
Dacer daughters sue Erap, Ping, 5 others in US court AMITA LEGASPI, GMANews.TV 09/17/
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