MANILA, Philippines — The United States Court of Appeals has affirmed the extradition of former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino to face the trial of the Nov. 2000 publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito killings.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima welcomed the development, saying that extradition is inevitable.

In a five-page Per Curiam (unauthored decision), the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania upheld the judgment of District Judge Stanley R. Chesler, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey who denied the petition of Aquino.

Aquino opposed the Philippine government’s application for his extradition.

The Philippine government applied to extradite Aquino to the Philippines because of his alleged involvement in two murder cases. Aquino, represented by appointed counsel, challenged the application.

“We focus our review on the issue of probable cause; that is, whether the government offered evidence to “support a reasonable belief that the (defendant) was guilty of the charge. In other words, the question is whether the evidence presented was such “to cause a person of ordinary prudence and caution to conscientiously entertain a reasonable belief of the accused’s guilt,” said the court.

The US Court of Appeals has denied the habeas corpus petition of Aquino, seeking reversal of the extradition order issued by the US District Court of New Jersey in Newark last year.

The US Court of Appeals also ruled that it cannot assign error to the District Court’s failure to consider the DNA (deoxyribo nucleic acid) evidence that Aquino cites because he did not ask the District Court to consider it.

“Even if Aquino put the DNA evidence before the District Court, and the evidence was of the type the District Court could consider, the result would be unchanged,” the US Appellate Court said.