Mancao claims he reported directly to Erap

Former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II on Wednesday claimed that he previously reported directly to, and received direct orders from, former President Joseph Estrada. It was not clear, however, whether what they allegedly discussed pertained to the November 2000 killing of veteran publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito. A QTV Balitanghali report quoted Mancao as saying that this occurred when he was still head of the Task Group Luzon of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). The police unit’s members allegedly carried out Dacer and Corbito’s killing. Mancao took the witness stand Wednesday at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18’s hearing on his motion to be made a state witness in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case and be removed from the list of accused. His testimony on his alleged direct ties with Estrada was cut short upon motions of lawyers Dante David and Alex Avisado, legal counsels for other former policemen who are among the accused in the case. The lawyers asserted that Mancao should be included as co-accused because jurisprudence has it that law enforcers cannot be made state witnesses. Avisado is also a lawyer for Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is also implicated in the crime. Lacson, who has denied involvement in the double murder case, is not listed as co-accused. Lacson previously headed the PAOCTF.

Erap’s denial Sought for reaction, Estrada’s camp denied Mancao’s claim and told him to stop lying. “Mr. Mancao never reported directly to Pres. Erap. We appeal to Mr. Mancao to tell the truth. False statements like this will only work injustice for Mr. Dacer and Mr. Corbito," Estrada’s spokesperson Margaux Salcedo said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Estrada had repeatedly denied any role in Dacer and Corbito’s deaths even as Mancao had tagged him as one of the brains behind the twin killings in an affidavit he executed on Feb. 13, 2009. Emotional Judge Myra Garcia Fernandez allowed Mancao to take the witness stand even if he was not scheduled to do so, a separate radio report said. Avisado and David said they want Fernandez to inhibit herself from the case, saying her decision was “highly irregular." The lawyers said they plan to file a motion for the judge’s inhibition within five days. Avisado also noted that Mancao became emotional and broke to tears when he hugged his former PAOCTF colleagues who are among the accused in the double murder case. "The reason why he shed a tear is because nakonsiyensiya daw siya na pinagkanulo niya ang mga ito (Mancao shed a tear because his conscience moved him because he betrayed them)," Avisado said in a separate radio interview. Decorated officer Mancao was a decorated junior police officer when he was picked to join the PAOCTF. Lacson retained control of the task force even when he was appointed as head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in November 1999. In an affidavit he gave to the Department of Justice, Mancao claimed to have overheard Lacson giving orders on radio to then Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, operations chief of the task force, to get rid of Dacer. Dacer supposedly earned the ire of Estrada because the veteran publicist was surreptitiously working with Estrada’s political foes on a project meant to bring down his administration. When Estrada was forced to resign as president during a military-backed popular uprising in January 2001, Lacson allegedly urged Aquino, Mancao and Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao to flee to the United States to avoid getting prosecuted. Aquino was eventually placed under arrest by US officials on charges of espionage, while Dumlao and Mancao were arrested separately in connection with an extradition case filed by the Philippine government to make them testify in the Dacer-Corbito case. Mancao returned to the Philippines early last month, while Dumlao is expected to be extradited from the US on Sunday. - GMANews.TV