Manero ‘patrons’ under tight watch

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Authorities have placed under close watch several politicians and known "patrons" of fugitive priest-killer Norberto Manero Jr. in Southern and Central Mindanao suspected of helping him escape before dawn Thursday from the Sarangani provincial jail.

The move was based on a directive from Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina and Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza who earlier ordered a nationwide manhunt for Manero.

Manero, his two brothers and four men were meted life terms in 1987 for the 1985 murder of Italian missionary Fr. Tullio Favali in Tulunan, North Cotabato.

In Manila, the Muslim Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA) asked President Arroyo yesterday to order a probe on the alleged ties of Manero with the military and local politicos.

"He couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of influential persons," said Amirah Ali Lidasan, MCPA spokeswoman. "We believe he was being backed by his patrons in the military and his friends among the local politicians with vested interests to protect."

Manero, facing charges of kidnapping and double murder for the killing of two Muslim brothers in 1977, bolted jail at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday by hiding in the trunk of the car of his wife Julie Yee.

The Sarangani police said they were closely monitoring certain events and developments in North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani and other areas where Manero had previously "operated."

Aside from the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have also joined the manhunt.

Known as "Kumander Bucay," Manero headed a paramilitary group in the area in the ’70s whose members were cultists called the Ilaga.

His group was reportedly used by then President Ferdinand Marcos to neutralize the worsening Muslim insurgency during martial law.

Several summary executions in the area were blamed on Manero, including the disappearance of brothers Ali and Mambatawan Mamalumpong in Alabel, Sarangani on Nov. 5, 1977.

Charges of double murder and kidnapping were filed against Manero and other Ilaga, but these were archived in 1981 by the late Judge Pedro Samson Animas of the then Court of First Instance of South Cotabato after Manero and his co-accused escaped before they were brought to court.

Manero escaped from the Davao penal colony in 1992 but was recaptured.

His sentence was reduced to 24 years by then President Fidel Ramos and was eventually given a widely criticized pardon by Ramos’ successor, Joseph Estrada, who was forced to revoke it when the earlier case was dug up.

Police said they are conducting full investigation and monitoring some politicians who are known to be close to Manero.

Johana Mamalumpong, sister of the murdered brothers, said Manero had boasted of his connections with a Mindanao congressman.

Mamalumpong said Manero actually called up a certain "congressman" immediately after a meeting with him sometime in November last year at the Sarangani jail.

She was the prosecution’s main witness in the alleged kidnapping and murder of her brothers by Manero and four others until she retracted her statements and cleared the suspects last December.

Lawyer Tomas Falgui II, Manero’s lawyer, admitted that his client has friends who are successful politicians, retired and active military and police officials.

He said Manero cultivated friendships because the suspect never hesitated to help those in need.

"He has helped friends who are now successful politicians and businessmen from as far as Ilocos and Sulu," he said.

But Falgui admitted that Manero was also "used" by the military during the Marcos years. He did not elaborate.

Falgui again dismissed the possibility that certain politician-friends of Manero’s orchestrated his escape with the intention of using him for the May 14 elections.

He also denied reports that Manero has been planning to avenge the slow handling of his case by Sarangani prosecutor Laureano Alzate and Regional Trial Court Branch 38 Judge Jaime Infante.

As of noon yesterday, Falgui said Manero had yet to contact him while his four emissaries tasked to contact the convict are still trying to locate him.

For their part, the militant party-list group Bayan Muna and the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace joined the MCPA’s call for a high-level investigation on Manero’s escape.

Bayan Muna’s Satur Ocampo said Manero "could be used by powerful political kingmakers in the south in their election bids."

Ocampo recalled how Manero was tapped by the military as a point man in Mindanao at the height of the Marcos anti-insurgency drive in the region.

Lidasan said Manero’s escape from the Sarangani jail couldn’t have come at a more auspicious time for his patrons of his when the elections are just around the corner and the peace process in Mindanao is off to a new start.

"He is no ordinary criminal," said the MCPA spokeswoman. "We have seen how he was able to get a pardon last year from President Estrada using his political ties."

Militant groups fear Manero is again being conscripted by his old patrons to destabilize the government’s peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and sow terror in the local elections to support some backwoods dynasties.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also feared that Manero may be used by politicians.

"Election time is coming. As in the past, people with similar records have been used by politicians," said CBCP president Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato.

Meanwhile another of Manero’s wives expressed happiness over his escape.

Evelyn Silvestre of La Esperanza, Tulunan said Manero did the right move when he bolted jail because "it seems he could never get justice the way his case is being handled." –With Romel Bagares, Sandy Araneta