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Erap, Lacson see Palace hand in Mancao affidavit


MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Friday accused the Arroyo administration of orchestrating efforts to link them to the 2000 Dacer-Corbito double murder case. Estrada and Lacson said “politics" was again at play, especially with a former police officer’s affidavit pointing to them as the masterminds in the abduction and killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. Contents of the supposed affidavit executed by Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II on February 14 and published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Friday recounted the roles that Estrada and Lacson allegedly played in the slay. In a series of radio interviews on Friday morning, however, Estrada denied Mancao’s claims and said the sworn statement could have been merely “dictated" to the former police officer. "Palagay ko ‘yung affidavit na ‘yan dinikta, dinikta sigurado para isabit ako. Wala akong kinalaman diyan [I believe the Mancao affidavit was dictated just to implicate me. I repeat I had nothing to do with it]," Estrada said in an interview on dzXL radio. Estrada said he had never spoken to Mancao – who used to head the Task Group Luzon of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). Estrada also said he did not know Superintendent Glenn Dumlao, another officer being implicated in the double murder case. "Ewan ko itong administrasyon na ito. Una tinawag akong plunderer, ngayon gusto akong gawing murderer [The problem with this administration is that it called me a plunderer. Now it wants to call me a murderer]," said Estrada, adding that he was prepared to face his accusers in court. "Kaya wala tayong kakaba-kaba riyan. Wala akong motibo o dahilan para gumawa ng ganyan. Pangalawa, wala sa lahi naming magpapatay ng tao [I am not worried. I have no motive to do that. It is not in our clan to kill people]," he said. Previous news reports claimed that Dacer had earned President Estrada’s ire for helping former President Fidel Ramos in destabilizing the Estrada administration. Palace ‘deal’? Lacson – who both headed the PAOCTF and the Philippine National Police during the Estrada administration – echoed Estrada’s reaction. Lacson said the affidavit implicating him could have been the product of a “deal" between the Arroyo administration and Mancao. He said Mancao could have executed the affidavit as a condition for turning him into a state witness and eventually be dropped from the murder charges. "I can only surmise na ‘yung deal o anumang struck na deal between Cezar Mancao and ng administrasyon, kasama sa deal na bago siya pumasa as state witness kailangan ma-implicate ako at mag-implicate ang ibang tao," Lacson told radio dzBB. [I can only surmise it was part of a deal between Mancao and the administration so he can be a state witness, that he has to implicate me and some people first.] Lacson was said to be personally interested in getting rid of Dacer because the latter used to work for former PNP chief Roberto Lastimoso, a known rival of Lacson. But Lacson maintained that he had no reason to have Dacer killed. The senator likewise denied Mancao’s claim that he wanted former police general Reynaldo Berroya — another Lacson rival — eliminated. Mancao claimed that he overheard Lacson giving the orders to “liquidate" the two targets while on board a car. "Di naman siguro ako bobo para magbigay ng instruction sa isang tao na may mga witnesses na hindi concerned sa instruction. On that note alone I think meron talagang attempt [na] talagang i-implicate ako [I am not a fool to give instructions in front of witnesses who are not concerned with the instruction. On that note alone I think there is an attempt to deliberately implicate me]," he said. Lacson said that without Malacañang’s hand in the murder case, Mancao would have said the truth and not implicate him. "Hanggang ngayon di ako maniniwala si Mancao magsasalita labag sa katotohanan. Kasi noong isang taon, noong tinawagan niya ako, sinusumbong niya sa akin may kumausap sa kanya, para implicate ako at ino-offer-an siya maging state witness. Ito dinaing sa akin noon. Pinagdiinan niya noon, talagang sir, alam mo sir yan, tayong dalawa walang alam diyan. Kaya di ako lubusang naniniwala [na] pipirma siya sa affidavit na di totoo ang nilalalaman," Lacson said. [Up to now I cannot believe Mancao will lie. Last year he called me to tell me he was being pressured to implicate me. So I will not believe he will sign an affidavit that is not true]," he said. Peace of mind Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez – the only person known to be in possession of Mancao's affidavit – said that the affidavit being referred to in the newspaper report seemed “similar" to the one he had read. Gonzalez’s copy of the affidavit is stored in a bank vault. However, Mancao’s lawyer – Arnedo Valera – in a phone-patch interview with QTV’s Balitanghali — set the record straight and said that the affidavit referred to in the newspaper was indeed his client’s sworn statement that was executed in February. Valera also scored whoever allowed the affidavit to reach the hands of the media in light of a “bargain" not to release the document just yet. “Malinaw ito na authorized ito ng Philippine government. Kung hindi man authorized ito ng Philippine government ay dapat kastiguhin kung sinong naglabas niyan because they did not meet yung kanilang bargain. But anyway, be that as it may, nandiyan na yan sa publiko, I confirm na ito yung sinumpaang salaysay ni Cezar Mancao noong February 14, 2009," Valera said. Contesting both Lacson and Estrada’s “Malacañang hand" theory, Valera said the statements that his client included in the affidavit were born out of the police officer’s desire to finally resolve the controversy, and not by any outside force. "Yung sinasabi ni former President Estrada na baka may kamay ng Malacañang tungkol diyan, hindi ako naniniwala diyan [I don't believe in what former President Estrada said, about how Malacañang had a hand in it]," Valera said in an interview over radio dzBB. "Walang kamay yan kasi even before niyan, bahagi na yan talaga ng kanyang tinatawag natin na siguro malalim din talaga yung pagmumuni-muni nya, pagninilay-nilay na masyado nang matagal yung walong taon [There was no outside influence. Perhaps the move was a result of his reflections. Eight years is a long time]," Valera added. Not so fast The revelation came around the same time when the US court hearing Dumlao’s extradition case granted the former police official's motion to cancel his extradition, thereby compromising his scheduled return to the Philippines on March 22. In his motion, Dumlao told Judge Thomas Platt of the Eastern District Court of New York in Central Islip, Long Island that he was physically and psychologically tortured by Philippine security officers to implicate other people in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. Dumlao’s legal counsel, Felix Vinluan, told the court that the United States could not extradite an individual who is in danger of being tortured upon his return. This is based on the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (FARR Act), which implements Article 3 of the UN Convention Against Torture. Dumlao’s camp has also requested a writ for habeas corpus because of Dumlao’s continued detention despite the extradition order being issued against the police officer in December. Under the rules, Dumlao has to be conveyed out of the US within two calendar months, which had expired last month. Vinluan stressed that his client was not evading authorities, adding that he would be ready to testify on the case, albeit on several conditions. “Unang una, hindi siya uuwi as an accused. He was already considered as a witness of the Supreme Court as far as the Soberano ruling is concerned," Vinluan said in a phone-patch interview aired over the radio Friday morning. The ruling that Vinluan was referring to was the Supreme Court decision on the Soberano versus People case, which charged more than two dozens of suspects in the Dacer-Corbito killings. The SC ruling ultimately ordered that Dumlao be excluded as a suspect and charges against him be dropped for tuning into a state witness. “Pangalawa, [he will only return if] his security will be guaranteed, because of his previous experience that he was tortured… For now ayaw niyang umuwi sa Pilipinas [he does not want to go to the Philippines]. With his previous experience talagang takot na siya umuwi (he’s afraid to go]," he added. - GMANews.TV
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