Cardeno ready to surface?

Barely a week after his appointment as head of Task Force Baron, Chief Superintendent Romeo Maganto said fugitive police officer Rafael Cardeno may soon surrender to authorities.

In a phone interview yesterday, Maganto said he is now negotiating with Cardeno’s lawyer, Homobono Adaza.

"There’s a certain condition for his surrender that Atty. Adaza mentioned and which I approved. But I also referred it to Secretary Golez," Maganto told The STAR.

Maganto has been ordered to report directly to the Office of the President through National Security Adviser Roilo Golez.

Maganto declined to say what the condition was, but said there is a one-week deadline for the surrender to materialize. He said he met Adaza met at a Quezon City hotel last Thursday to discuss Cardeno’s surrender.

"This is a positive and good development especially since the trial will start on Jan. 15," Maganto said. "Remember, I didn’t use the word arrest but physical accounting of Col. Cardeno. I explained to Atty. Adaza that his client cannot keep on hiding if he insists that he is innocent. The proper forum for him to clear his name is the court."

Cardeno has been tagged as the brains behind the killing of Baron Alexander Cervantes, the self-styled spokesperson of the Young Officers’ Union (YOU), on Dec. 31, 2001 along the Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Pinas City.

Cardeno was charged with the murder of Cervantes before the sala of Las Pinas City Executive Judge Bonifacio Sanz Maceda almost three months ago. Also charged were Sonny Camacho, a Land Transportation Office (LTO) employee, self-confessed gunman and former Marine Sergeant Joseph Mostrales, and lookouts Erlindo Torres and Jaime Centeno.

Meanwhile, Lloyd Cervantes, younger brother of Baron, asked National Capital Region Police Officer (NCRPO) chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, to keep his hands off the task force.

Cervantes was reacting to Velasco’s earlier statement that the NCRPO is the lead investigating team and that Maganto should coordinate with them.

"We appreciate the efforts of Gen. Velasco. But we want to clarify that the Cervantes family specifically requested from President Arroyo that Gen. Maganto lead the task force, which she granted," Cervantes said in a phone interview.

He expressed fears that any "meddling" might muddle the latest development in the case.

Maganto, who has been on floating status for almost three years, was named by Mrs. Arroyo to head the task force last Dec. 30.

In a letter to the President, the Cervantes family asked that a task force led by Maganto be created for the sole purpose of arresting Cardeno and Camacho, who allegedly set up Cervantes for the assassination.

The Cervantes family expressed disappointment over the supposedly lukewarm efforts of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest Cardeno. – Nikko Dizon