Mancao claims corruption in Witness Protection Program

MANILA, Philippines - Former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II yesterday slammed the Witness Protection Program (WPP) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), saying it was riddled with corruption.

Mancao told The STAR that he had proof regarding the corruption of WPP officials. He declined to give details of the alleged corrupt acts.

After being dropped from the coverage of the WPP, Mancao said he could now talk freely about the “corruption inside the program and how the witnesses under its protection are being treated.”

“There is a lot of money in the WPP but is there proper auditing of its expenses? The program should be reviewed. I saw everything when I was there but I couldn’t do anything. Kailangan kong makisama sa kanila (I had to go along with them). But now that I’m out, I might as well talk,” he said.

Mancao said he had the documents and saved the text messages he exchanged with officials of the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as proof.

He said there are only witnesses inside the WPP but there is no protection.

“People would see on television that a witness is heavily guarded when he is taken to the court to appear and testify but what they don’t see is that after the hearing we would separate on Kalaw Street and leave us to do our thing,” he said.

He added the places where witnesses were being held are unbearable. “That’s why I wanted to be placed at the NBI detention cell.”

There was a time, he said, when WPP and NBI officials “gagged” him during the confirmation hearings on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

He said officials told him to shut up on the possibility that he might offend Sen. Panfilo Lacson until De Lima’s appointment is confirmed.

“There were even times when witnesses are not allowed to speak, especially when the secretary (De Lima) is attending the budget hearing (in the Senate). I remember Attorney (Martin) Meñez denying my request to see a doctor… Emmanuel Mancao, who is my relative, for no apparent reason,” he said.

Mancao urged Malacañang to look into the WPP and see if its budget really goes to the program.

Mancao escaped early Thursday from custody of the NBI in a bid to evade his impending transfer to the Manila City Jail.

He was among those charged over the murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2001.

His bid to turn state witness in the case was turned down by the court that ordered his transfer to the Manila City Jail.

Fearing for his safety, Mancao escaped, claiming his transfer to the Manila City Jail would endanger his life.

De Lima recommended that Mancao be dropped  from the WPP.

A waste of time and money

Putting up a bounty for his recapture is just a waste of money and effort, according to Mancao.

“It’s a waste of people’s money. There are other important things that the government should be looking into, other than a witness whose only desire is to preserve his life. Why are they so afraid that I am on the loose? Are they afraid that I would live to tell what I know?” Mancao told The STAR.

Mancao declared he will not allow himself to be recaptured and all efforts to locate him would be frustrating.

He said he is constantly moving and has been monitoring the situation from the “inside,” insinuating that he has an asset informing of government moves to recapture him.

Mancao, however, did not say if he was traveling alone but he was talking to someone while giving the telephone interview to The STAR.

He claimed he is “ahead of them and would only be reached by a helicopter now.”

The manhunt for the fugitive former police officer led NBI agents to different places in Metro Manila where his two cellphones have been monitored.

Pursuing NBI operatives have raided motels and have checked shopping malls and subdivisions east of Manila, Antipolo and Cavite for the past two days but failed to find Mancao.

“I am ahead of them by a mile. They won’t get me,” Mancao declared.

He said he would peacefully surrender if assured of fair treatment in the case.

“The Aquino administration could help if they want, but they don’t want to offend Lacson,” he said.

In 2009, Mancao surfaced to implicate Lacson, then national police chief, and former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino in the murders.

Lacson went into hiding for a year until the Court of Appeals cleared him of the charges.

Mancao and Aquino remained as the principal accused in the case. Both have worked under Lacson in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), the group that allegedly carried out the murders.

Mancao described Lacson as being close to Malacañang.

“Where have you seen a witness who is now being hunted, and an accused public official who is now pulling the strings to make sure I’m dead,” he added.

NBI Director Nonnatus Caesar Roxas said capturing Mancao is not an easy task because of his training and experience as a police official.

“But we are doing everything to get him back. Obviously his escape is a big embarrassment to the bureau,” Roxas said.