Mancao to identify 'Bigote'

MANILA, Philippines – Former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II is back in the country, vowing to identify the principal players in the kidnapping and murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito nine years ago.

Mancao told Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday that he would “stick to what he said in his affidavit,” and would identify “71” and “Bigote” who he said were behind the kidnapping and murder of Dacer and Corbito in November 2000.

Gonzalez said Mancao did not elaborate, but vowed to reveal all that he knows about the murders if he turns state witness.

“I did not want to discuss that affidavit with him because I do not want people to think that he is being dictated upon. It might be counterproductive. He is an intelligent person,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez visited Mancao at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila hours after his arrival from the US accompanied by NBI officials led by Ricardo Diaz, who took custody of Mancao from US marshals in Los Angeles.

“We just talked about his experience in the US, his regrets, his hopes, and his desire to tell the truth,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said Mancao felt bitter about being abandoned by the people he had respected.

While in detention in the US, Mancao executed an affidavit linking his former police boss, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, to the murders.

Mancao had served under Lacson, who then headed the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF).

Lacson, who was allegedly identified as “71” by Mancao in his affidavit, has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Lacson is a graduate of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1971 and became chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the PAOCTF, the elite police unit said to be responsible for the killing of Dacer.

Dacer’s clients included ousted President Joseph Estrada, who has also denied any hand in the publicist’s murder.

Mancao’s affidavit supposedly mentioned “Bigote,” describing someone with a mustache who is the alleged mastermind of the murders.

Gonzalez said Mancao is taken under protective custody by the NBI as a possible witness.

He said Mancao is a “prospective state witness” since he will still have to face a preliminary investigation to determine if he could qualify as such. He added Lacson might be subpoenaed depending on the investigation.

Lacson had maintained he has nothing to do with the murders and said there is nothing in Mancao’s affidavit linking him to the crime.

‘Big names’

Malacañang said Mancao’s revelations “might implicate big names in politics.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Mancao’s statements are a matter for the public to consider.

“Mancao in his interview said he might implicate big names in politics who are in a position to make decisions that would affect the lives of ordinary Filipinos,” Golez said. “So this should be enough grounds for the public to keep track of the case.”

Golez said the Dacer-Corbito murders are also a test of the country’s judicial system, considering the case has dragged on for years.

On the flight home, Mancao was interviewed by reporters and was asked why he decided to turn state witness.

Mancao said he felt neglected by Lacson, whom he said he had respected all throughout his career in the police service.

Before he was arrested in the US for extradition last year, Mancao said he sought help from his former boss.

“Bago ako nahuli, humingi din naman ako ng tulong. Wala naman akong maasahan na (Before I was arrested I asked for help. But I realized I could not count on getting any help),” he said.

Mancao said it was a “gamble” for him to turn state witness against Lacson.

He said he followed the instructions of Lacson to “lie low” in the US following the ouster of President Estrada in January 2001.

“I gambled here. Maybe this time I will be able to reveal the truth. I sacrificed my career. I left my family. I followed the orders of the person I respected,” Mancao said, referring to Lacson.

Diaz, who accompanied Mancao on the flight home from the US, said he also asked the same question of the former police official.

He said Mancao is preoccupied with his safety in coming home, fearing that some people in the government would silence him.

According to Diaz, Mancao was ecstatic when they flew out of Los Angeles.

“He was enjoying his new-found freedom. And that he was conversing with stewardesses and other flight crew, as well as with the NBI agents. Mancao was also having his picture taken with the stewardesses,” Diaz said.

But the mood changed when Mancao realized they were only minutes away from landing in Manila.

Diaz, however, assured Mancao that he would be safe under the NBI.

Diaz explained to the former police officer the elaborate security arrangements awaiting him in Manila. This made Mancao feel more comfortable, he said.

The security on Mancao’s arrival was elaborate.

More than 200 NBI security personnel had been deployed along the route from the airport while another group, including policemen and military intelligence operatives, surrounded the NBI main office in Manila awaiting the arrival of Mancao.

During the trip from NAIA to the NBI, there were two decoy convoys. Mancao boarded a vehicle that entered through the NBI back gate, avoiding the media waiting for him at the front gate.

Mancao was formally turned over by US marshals to the NBI at the Los Angeles International Airport on June 2, 2009. He was handcuffed when he was turned over to the NBI team.

Shortly afterwards, Diaz removed the handcuffs and accompanied Mancao to board the flight home.

‘To gain my freedom’

Mancao said he decided to end his suffering in the US after eight years of evading prosecution for the murders.

Mancao said he thought of finally revealing the truth. “Maybe with that I can gain my freedom and I can be with my family,” he said.

Mancao later told Secretary Gonzalez that it had been difficult for him to “survive,” recalling his colleague, former senior superintendent Glenn Dumlao, working as a laborer in road projects in the US for financial support.

Aside from Mancao, Dumlao and 20 others were among those charged in the double murder. Another suspect is former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, who is in the US fighting the Philippine extradition request.

US court papers said Dumlao had confessed his participation in the murders to investigators in the Philippines in 2001. He was scheduled to appear as a star witness at the trial but instead fled to the US.

He was arrested last year near New York where he was working as a handyman, and like Mancao was not contesting his extradition to the Philippines.

Dumlao reportedly also wanted to return home to become state witness.

Gonzalez slammed allegations from Lacson that Mancao’s return to become state witness is “political persecution, not prosecution.”

“We did not manufacture these stories. We never solicited Mancao and Dumlao. They volunteered their testimonies to the government and we just want to know the truth so we are helping them,” he said.

During the meeting with Gonzalez, Mancao requested that the preliminary investigation be confined to the Dacer–Corbito case and avoid other issues that may link the principal suspects to other high-profile cases.

“He has many recollections of details that may be significant in other cases but he would just discuss those if raised in the investigation,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez announced a new panel of prosecutors was created to handle the reinvestigation of the murder case.

Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong was tapped to head the new prosecution panel. Ong was the same prosecutor who handled the investigation of the Kuratong Baleleng rubout case that implicated Lacson.

Gonzalez said Mancao appeared comfortable under NBI custody and has expressed gratitude for the security arrangements for he arrived early yesterday at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal II via Philippine Airlines flight PR 103.

Airport officials said Mancao went through the required thermal scanning process, along with the other passengers of the airline from the US, to determine if they have symptoms of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

Diaz added he and Mancao, along with the rest of the NBI team that fetched the former police official from the US, would be willing to be quarantined if they tested positive for the flu virus.

“But we tested negative. We have no indications that we have flu. Before we left the United States, we also had anti-flu shots,” Diaz said. – With Sandy Araneta, Paolo Romero, Rudy Santos, Sheila Crisostomo, Ronilo Ladrino Pamonag, AP - By Edu Punay (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)