Manero to be arraigned for kidnap-murder case: More Victims Of'Landgrabbing' Surface

More than 20 years after the crime, priest-killer Norberto Manero Jr. will finally be arraigned for the kidnapping and murder of two brothers.

Manero is expected to enter a plea of not guilty for the crime committed in 1977, which case was archived in 1980 when Manero and the other accused went into hiding.

This developed as more families from Barangay Kinilis in Polomolok, South Cotabato, mostly lumads (uplanders), are surfacing and accusing Manero of grabbing their vast tracts of land in the 70's.

"We are currently documenting the complaints and it appears that the group of Kumander Bucay (Manero) forcibly annexed vast tracts of land owned by the lumads in the area," said Sister Susan Bolanio, chairperson of the Justice and Peace Desk of the Diocese of Marbel.

The trial of the dusted-off case relating to the kidnap-slay of brothers Ali and Mambawatan Mamalumpong of South Cotabato will be presided by Sarangani Judge Jaime Infante of RTC Branch 38.

Manero, his wife Leonarda Diesto alias Kumander Inday, his brother Artemio, Job Tolentino and Larry Gonzaga allegedly killed and feasted on the bodies of the Mamalumpongs on Nov. 5, 1977.

A case was filed against Manero and his cohorts with the sala of then South Cotabato Court of First Instance Judge Pedro Samson Animas, but it was archived in 1981 after the accused failed to appear before the court.

Sarangani provincial prosecutor Laureano Alzate had informed the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila that Infante got hold of Manero's criminal records last Feb. 24 and issued a commitment order four days later.

The justice department's Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), in which acting Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero sits as chairman, had recommended to President Estrada the revocation of Manero's conditional pardon for showing signs of defiance of BPP rules.

"Manero's conduct has established his inability to comply with the conditions of his release and makes his continued stay outside prison a risk that the public should not be allowed to bear," the DOJ chief said earlier.

In a one-page arrest and recommitment order, Tuquero said the "Director of Prisons is hereby authorized to recommit Manero to serve the remaining unexpired portion of the maximum sentence for which he was originally committed to prison."

Among the reasons cited by the DOJ, as per the findings of the BPP, was the convict's "failure to give his exact address despite repeated demands" by Quezon City-based parole and probation officer Federico Jimeno.

Another was when he "disregarded" the subpoena sent by the Senate committee on justice and human rights, chaired by Sen. Renato Cayetano, for him to attend the panel's Feb. 22 hearing on the circumstances leading to the granting of his pardon.

Manero, who is now detained, also violated Section 31 of the BPP rules when he concealed relevant information about the Mamalumpong case.

Under the rules, the "Board may cancel the grant of parole or recommend the revocation of the pardon ... if it finds that material information given by the ... client to the Board, either before or after the release, was incomplete or that (he) had willfully or maliciously concealed material information from the Board."

Manero was convicted in 1987 in connection with the 1985 murder of Italian priest Tullio Favali of Tulunan, South Cotabato. He escaped in 1992 but was recaptured shortly after.

After his life sentence was commuted by former President Fidel Ramos in 1997, Manero was granted conditional pardon by President Estrada last Dec. 16.

The call for the revocation of executive clemency was initiated by Kidapawan Bishop Romulo Valles and Fr. Peter Anthony Geremiah, the real target of the Manero brothers Norberto, Edilberto and Elpidio.

Meanwhile, the Justice and Peace Desk of the Diocese of Marbel initiated the probe against Manero after a B'laan family came forward last week and accused the convicted priest-killer of forcing them out of their 24-hectare land in Polomolok.

Sister Bolanio said the Catholic Church, through its weekly publication Concern circulated until the early 80's, had documented Manero's atrocities as head of a paramilitary unit then.

"The (landgrabbing) cases actually surfaced about 20 years ago but it's only now that the victims expressed their desire to regain their property," said Bolanio.

Bolanio said their lawyers are at present determining what actions to take on the matter.

She said the landgrabbing victims are willing to be identified at the proper time, adding that they fear reprisals from Manero "loyalists" in Polomolok.