De Lima: Wig-wearing Mancao plans to leave Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Fugitive former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II is now sporting a wig in a move to leave the country in disguise, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima revealed yesterday.

Citing an intelligence report from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), De Lima said a lawyer is helping Mancao secure a passport.

She did not identify the lawyer who was supposedly helping Mancao.

“Mr. Mancao is trying to secure passports for himself and two others. There’s supposedly this lawyer working on those passports, which of course should be fake or under an assumed name,” De Lima said.

“We received information that he is sporting a wig now,” she added.

De Lima stressed it would be impossible for Mancao to secure a passport using his real name and leave the country without a disguise, “especially (since) he’s very much publicized in the media with his publicity stunts.”

But she said sneaking out of the country illegally is possible.

“That’s why I decided to reveal this intelligence report as a sort of preemptive move because we might be humiliated once again if he succeeds,” she explained.

De Lima also warned charges of obstruction of justice could be filed against the lawyer aiding Mancao.

“That lawyer should know that Mr. Mancao is a fugitive and anyone who would aid, abet or facilitate the escape or attempted flight from Philippine jurisdiction of Mr. Mancao can be charged with obstruction of justice,” she said.

Based on the NBI report, the lawyer has been working to secure the passports for the last two weeks.

“I got the information over the weekend so I alerted the BI (Bureau of Immigration) immediately,” De Lima said. 

While Mancao claimed he escaped from NBI headquarters last May 2 for fear of getting killed, De Lima believed it had a lot to do with his political ambition.

Mancao lost his bid for a seat in the Compostela Valley provincial board in last Monday’s elections.

Mancao is among those charged in the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

He was extradited from the US in June 2009 and implicated Sen. Panfilo Lacson in the murders.

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

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.