November 28, 2000, Sun Star, Erap denies hand in Dacer's disappearance,

November 28, 2000, Sun Star, Erap denies hand in Dacer's disappearance,

MANILA -- President Estrada Monday rejected charges that his government was behind the mysterious disappearance of the publicist of his predecessor and critic Fidel Ramos. He also denied his administration had a hand in the attempted break-in at the house of a senior aide of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 

The President, in his directive, told the police Monday to seek the help of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in looking for Salvador Dacer, the publicist of former president Ramos who went missing last Friday. 

"I don't have any involvement" in his disappearance, he said, but revealed he met with Dacer on Wednesday night during a "friendly visit." Estrada issued a memorandum to the police to step up the search for the public relations executive. In his directive, asked the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) to "exert all efforts" in finding the missing public relations man. 

"For the purpose of carrying out this task, you are hereby authorized to enlist the support of the ISAFP," the President said. At the Parañaque City Hall, Mayor Joey Marquez offered P500,000 to any person who could give information on the whereabouts of Dacer, who failed to show up for a scheduled meeting with Ramos and Arroyo. 

Marquez said the reward money came from the Mayor's intelligence funds. The mayor also initiated the putting up of a Task Force Hanap Bubby Dacer to help look for the public relations man, who went missing on Nov. 24 at past 10 a.m. 

He explained he was interested in Dacer's case, not because he was a prominent man, but because he was a city constituent, whose security should be given importance. Dacer was on his way to his office from his residence in Parañaque when he disappeared. He was with his driver Manuel Corbito on board a white Toyota Revo. Vice President Arroyo's chief aide Renato Corona yesterday said the attempted break-in at his home last Tuesday, as well as Dacer's disappearance, shows "the specter of terror tactics against the political opposition is once more looming in the horizon, if it is not already upon us." 

He said the justice department's National Bureau of Investigation has admitted having sent one of its agents to his house last week, but offered no apology. "The current political upheaval the nation is facing will only worsen with every transgression on the rights of its citizens to be safe and secure from the naked abuse of state power," he added. 

Both Arroyo and Ramos have asked Estrada to resign, saying he no longer had the moral authority to govern after he was impeached for allegedly taking millions of pesos in bribes from gambling bosses, siphoning off tobacco taxes and pressuring corporate regulators to rule in favor of his business cronies. 

But President Estrada predicted that the Senate would acquit him of corruption charges at his trial next month and allow him to serve out the remainder of his term. In several speeches and interviews with reporters, Estrada urged the opposition to call off planned street protests this week, ahead of his impeachment trial in the Senate starting Dec. 7. 

"I assure the Filipino people that I will be acquitted because truth is on my side," Estrada told representatives of the urban poor at a meeting in Malacañang. The President reiterated he was ready to face the charges "as  long as they are in accord with the Constitution," adding he would abide by the Senate's verdict. 

In a separate speech to members of his party, Estrada again rejected calls for his resignation. "The bottom line is that a duly elected President cannot abandon the people's will on the mere basis of obviously politically  motivated attacks and baseless accusations." He urged demonstrators to "place our country above personal or political interests. We cannot allow anarchy or violence in our streets and in our cities." 

Speaking to reporters later, Estrada advised the protesters to "just wait for the Senate's verdict" and to refrain from bringing schoolchildren to rallies. "They could get hurt, they should not be involved," he said. Government intelligence warned last week that communist guerrillas planned to infiltrate the protesters' ranks and incite "violent" actions to advance the left's own agenda to seize power. (Sunnex/PNA/AFP)