The Dacer–Corbito double murder case is one of the unsolved murders occurred in the Philippines during the administration of Joseph Estrada.
In 2000, Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, were abducted in Metro Manila, later killed, and their vehicle dumped. Since 2001, a number of arrests were made.
Background
The ultimate reasons for Dacer's murder remain a subject of debate. Fidel Ramos has publicly accused his successor, Joseph Estrada, of giving the original order — Estrada was mired in a corruption scandal at the time, and according to some reports, Estrada believed Dacer was helping Ramos destabilize his rule.
Victims
Salvador "Bubby" Dacer (April 12, 1934 – November 24, 2000) was a publicist from Albay. His clients included many of the top figures in country's politics, notably Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Estrada (incumbent at the time of the crime), as well as in the police. He is the uncle of broadcast journalist Kaye Dacer.
Emmanuel Corbito (May 9, 1952 – November 24, 2000), meanwhile, was Dacer's driver.
Prior to their deaths, Dacer was summoned in Malacañang by Estrada as he was accused of being behind the impeachment of the latter.
Events
Kidnapping and murder
On November 24, 2000, Dacer and Corbito, while on their way to the former's office at the Manila Hotel, were abducted at the intersection of South Superhighway and Zobel Roxas Street at the city boundary of Makati and Manila. Later in the night, they were reportedly killed by strangulation and their bodies were burned. Three days later, Dacer's car was found abandoned in Maragondon, Cavite. Their charred remains, found in 2001 in Indang, same province, were positively identified.
Testimonies
Members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) were the suspects as claimed by Jimmy Lopez, a PAOCTF civilian agent and former barangay captain, and Alex Diloy, in a press conference on March 29, 2001. A day prior, the two, both farmers in Indang, had been captured in a raid by National Bureau of Investigation agents, whom later led by them to a creek where they found the remains.
The PAOCTF at the time of the crime was directly under then Philippine National Police chief and then candidate (later elected senator) Panfilo Lacson, who denied his involvement in any illegal abduction.
The two admitted their participation in the crime and identified twelve other co-conspirators including four PAOCTF members, particularly, SPO4 Marino Soberano (according to the NBI, was present in the raid near Dacer's house and the crime) and SPO3 Mauro Torres.
Lopez recounted that a group led by Soberano arrived, with the victims, at his home on the afternoon after the abduction. He brought them to the garage of his brother, William. At evening, the group left as he stayed behind.
Diloy, narrating the disposal of the corpses in the nearby creek, admitted preparing a pyre. He witnessed William, Torres, and Digo de Pedro, identified as an incumbent councilor in Indang, strangle the victims to death; their bodies were set afire, burning for about half an hour. Thereafter, he left the group as he walked toward Binakayan. He revealed receiving cash twice after the killings.
P/Sr. Supt. Teofilo Viña, PAOCTF–Visayas chief and Lacson's former aide, was first alleged by the NBI as the mastermind; also pointed by the two farmers as the team leader of the involved PAOCTF agents who might gave final order for the execution of the victims. An airline passenger manifest had reportedly showed that Viña left Cebu for Manila, staying from a day prior to the abduction until the following night. On the other hand, P/Supt. Glenn Dumlao, deputy chief for operations of PAOCTF–Luzon, was also alleged as the one who ordered the execution. Meanwhile, Soberano and Torres later testified that the abduction was ordered by P/C. Insp. Vicente Arnado; this was supported by SPO1 Ruperto Nemeno of PAOCTF–Luzon, who confessed to his role in the abduction.
Later developments on the case
A testimony of a former ranking official of the PAOCTF led to the capture of seven agents allegedly linked to the case.