Sizeable force to secure Mancao

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and a sizeable force of government security men will protect former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II upon his return from the United States.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday Mancao, a suspect in the 2000 Dacer-Corbito murders, had asked the NBI to clad him in a bullet-proof vest upon his arrival from Los Angeles tomorrow.

“We have a sizeable force for his arrival, although we haven’t seen any indication of threats against him,” he said.

Escorting Mancao are lawyer Ricardo Diaz, NBI Anti-Terrorism Division chief and NBI spokesman, and lawyer Claro de Castro Jr., NBI Interpol chief, he added.

However, Ret. Gen. Angel Atutubo, Manila International Airport Authority assistant general manager for security and emergency services, said security personnel will not be allowed to carry firearms during the arrival of Mancao.

Media persons covering the arrival of Macao will be given limited access since the alert level of Influenza A(H1N1) virus has been raised to 5, he added.

Mancao is scheduled to arrive at about 5:55 a.m. tomorrow on board a Philippine Airlines flight from Los Angeles, according to the office of MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi.

Gonzalez told reporters yesterday the processing of Mancao’s travel documents has been completed and his flight back home was already booked.

US Marshals will transfer Mancao to the NBI’s custody in Los Angeles today, he added.

Diaz and De Castro are in Los Angeles to take custody of Mancao just hours before their flight departs.

Radio reports in Los Angeles said Mancao was already in a Los Angeles detention center yesterday.

Another suspect in the murder case, former police senior superintendent Glenn Dumlao, remains in the custody of the United States government pending his extradition.

Gonzalez said Dumlao, who has agreed to testify for the government after the Dacer-Corbito murder case is reopened, is expected to arrive in the next two weeks.

“It would take him 10 days to be able to comply with the required submission of deposition (in connection to the pending extradition of the third suspect, former senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino),” the justice secretary said.

Gonzalez said Mancao would have to wait for Dumlao before the investigation on the Dacer-Corbito case reopens.

Mancao and Dumlao would “detonate

the bomb together” since they would have consistent testimonies, he added.

The extradition of Mancao and Dumlao was delayed after a US court ordered them to file their deposition in the case of Aquino.

VACC to secure Mancao

Anti-crime advocate Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption will secure Mancao upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Dante Jimenez, VACC founding chairman, said they have already coordinated with the NBI and the Department of Justice so they could join the group sent to secure the former police official.

“I’ve been requested by Dacer and Mancao families to be with Mancao upon arrival at the airport,” he said. “They fear he might be killed.”

In a handwritten letter to Jimenez dated May 4, 2009, Mancao said he is ready to reveal everything he knows about the murder of PR man Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

He said he intends to reveal “the truth” despite knowing that “it will not come easy and I have to pay for it, even with my own life,” Jimenez quoted Mancao as saying.

On the other hand, Mancao’s mother, in her letter to Jimenez last April, asked the VACC to help protect her son’s rights as soon as he is extradited to the Philippines.

Reynalda Mancao said she and her family have been praying for the former police official, who has reportedly executed an affidavit implicating Sen. Panfilo Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito murders.

“Me and my family have been praying and asking that he be given the necessary protection from your group, for his human rights, especially when he is finally given the chance to prove that he is innocent and that he has sacrificed for a crime that he did not commit,” she said.

Mancao’s mother also asked Jimenez and the VACC to help guide her son in revealing the whole truth about the Dacer-Corbito case based on what he knows.

“We believe in the integrity of your group and you can help a lot so that my son will not easily fall to pressure and harassment by people who will try to stop him in telling the truth, with all his heart and sincerity,” Reynalda said in Filipino.

“Like what everyone else is praying for, may the real perpetrator be punished under the law.” — With Sandy Araneta, Rudy Santos, Michael Punongbayan