Of murders and chances

If Sen. Ping Lacson can no longer “sleep soundly,” as his former aide Cesar Mancao wanted to assure him when he revealed then Presidential Security Group chief Romeo Prestoza’s offer of freedom and support to his children if he would pin Lacson on the killings of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, it is probably not because Mancao eventually turned his back against him but because of his losing flint to his political star that now begins to show a dying flicker.

The revived double murder case is now beginning to gain headway even if Lacson is no longer in the people’s political radar after hedging on the presidency, which he realized was again elusive. And it is possible Lacson would become the sole political figure to get into the cross of the Department of Justice (DoJ)’s sight but Erap Estrada as well.

The problem for GMA, for now however, is that Erap remains determined in regaining the presidency he lost in 2001. Any move to pin down Erap might awaken a sleeping giant among the large mass that supports the deposed leader. So, it is better to train one’s sight at Lacson first and deal with Erap later, when the conditions are ripe.

It also did not help Lacson that he burned his bridges with Estrada, although some sectors believe that decision would come in handy if and when GMA moves firmly to stop Erap from becoming president anew at all cost.

But not for now, as GMA continues to weigh things with just a little over five months before a change in country’s leadership takes place (if ever!), but it is yet unclear whether her candidate Gibo Teodoro, or her perceived alternate candidate, Manny Villar, would pull through against Noynoy Aquino, who remains on top of surveys but whose lead nevertheless remains precarious given the possibility of another massive cheating if media play and/or future messages and advertorials would not work in favor of his rivals in the crucial months.

Erap will remain off the hook, as he immediately claimed after the DoJ’s announcement of Lacson being the prime suspect in the case. But while Erap isn’t tagged along with Lacson, and as new surveys do not seem to point to him as the leading candidate, Lacson and the Dacer-Corbito case would remain hovering above his head like festering flies.

The Lacson drama, however, surprisingly unfolded as focus on the Maguindanao mass murder of 57 persons, including 30 media colleagues, had started to wane. Politics being an art, its masters have just changed the course of public interest from some gruesome murders back to a couple of gruesome murders.

And it may get the necks of two scathing figures, while the rest of the field would prove little concern.

Besides, Noynoy is now facing a revival of issues related to the “Kamag-anak Inc.,” expanding the issue to sports where his uncle, Peping Cojuangco, one of the more famous among his relatives, is holding sway.

And while Villar may think he is off the hook already in the C5 double budget insertion mess, his handlers remain prepared for any more negative publicities that would come their bet’s way.

It is Erap, through Lacson and the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, who would possibly face the most damaging issues besides the disqualification case recently hurled against him before the Comelec.

And the rest are expendable.

With May 10 just around the corner, nobody among the leading contenders can afford a sound sleep.

Even if it’s another person facing charges of killing people.