solution was provided on SDU, sharing here for the search purposes:
function zEditCr(value) {
rs.data("<a href=\"#\" onclick=\"showEdit('" + crPersid + "');\">" + value + "</a>");
}
<PDM_MACRO name=lsWrite text="var crPersid = \"@{list.persistent_id:}\";">
<PDM_MACRO name=lsCol hdr="ref_num" attr="ref_num" fmtfunc="zEditCr">