MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Panfilo Lacson may be missing the past six months, but he is getting a new office in the Senate.

Lacson has been assigned to the office of former Sen. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, who ran and lost as a presidential candidate in the May 10 elections.

On Thursday, staff members and repairmen were busy at work repainting the new and very white office of Lacson. The furniture has yet to come in but some pictures, including that of Lacson, had already been put in place.

Lacson, who has a standing arrest warrant for the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000, has reportedly sent surrender feelers to the new Aquino administration.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Thursday she had discussed Lacson’s case with Director Nestor Mantaring of the National Bureau of Investigation and would take this up with President Benigno Aquino III.

She declined to give details but said that law enforcers seemed to have lost track of the senator since he was reported to have gone to Hong Kong and Rome a few days before the Manila Regional Trial Court issued a warrant for his arrest on Feb. 5.

She said the NBI was attempting to verify rumors that Lacson was back in the country.

“They are closely monitoring the situation in light of this report. But I think Sen. Ping Lacson really has plans to return to face the charges, to confront the criminal cases,” De Lima told reporters.

“I will have to discuss certain things with President Noynoy based on the other confidential matters that I got from Director Mantaring,” she added.

Asked if Lacson had sent surrender feelers, she said, “Not to me directly. That is part of the confidential discussion we had.”

“The NBI said they have been receiving certain information that Senator Lacson is already in the country but so far what they know is from Hong Kong, he was in Rome and then they lost track,” she said.

Mantaring told reporters Thursday that Lacson was hiding in a province near Metro Manila.

Last January, Lacson has been implicated as the mastermind of the Dacer-Corbito murders by two former aides—former police senior superintendents Cezar Mancao II and Glenn Dumlao who were extradited from the United States last year.

Murder charges were originally filed in May 2001 against Mancao, Dumlao and another close Lacson aide, former police Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino, along with other officials and operatives of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.

Aquino, Mancao and Dumlao however fled to the United States. Aquino is fighting his extradition.

De Lima said Lacson can expect “fair treatment” but no special treatment. “We should be insulated from political consideration.”

Although Lacson was in hiding during the campaign, he supported Aquino’s candidacy by lending him his Senate staff. With reports from Christine O. Avendano, Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Jeannette I. Andrade , PDI.