Ex-DOJ chief tells CA: Mancao a credible witness vs Lacson

Former Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez criticized the Court of Appeals (CA) for dismissing the double murder case against fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson, on the grounds that the witness in the case was not credible. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV on Friday, Gonzalez said CA erred in saying that former police Superintendent Cezar Mancao II was "not credible and trustworthy witness" against Lacson, the prime suspect in the Dacer-Corbito killings in 2000. "I have not read that decision and it's quite difficult to make a comment on something I've not yet analyzed. But I disagree with the Court of Appeals justices when they claimed that Mancao is not credible," said Gonzalez. Gonzalez was the Justice secretary when Mancao returned to the Philippines in June 2009, eight years after the former law enforcer went into hiding in the United States. Gonzalez left the Department of Justice (DOJ) that same month and was replaced by Agnes Devanadera. Under Devanadera's leadership in January 2010, the DOJ filed the double murder case against Lacson before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18. GMANews.TV tried to contact Devanadera for comment on the CA ruling but she declined to give her reaction. "I cannot say the CA is wrong or the CA failed to appreciate the facts," she said in a separate phone interview. Gonzalez and Devanadera are widely perceived to be allies of Lacson's political nemesis, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Mancao's affidavit Mancao used to be the subordinate of then Philippine National Police chief Lacson, who also headed the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). The PAOCTF allegedly carried out the killings of veteran publicist Salvador 'Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito on November 24, 2000. In an affidavit executed on February 13, 2009, Mancao pinned down Lacson as the mastermind of the killings. The CA used the same affidavit in thrashing Mancao as an unreliable witness. The CA ruled that Mancao's February 2009 affidavit contained inconsistencies with his June 2001 affidavit. The appellate court questioned why it took Mancao eight years to issue an affidavit to implicate Lacson. "Under oath, he contradicted himself on material points. Inconsistencies and material contradiction affect the credibility of Cezar Mancao and the veracity of his statements," said the Court of Appeals. The CA likewise doubted Mancao's motives in testifying against Lacson because months before he executed the Feb. 2009 affidavit, he had spoken with Gonzalez, a known Arroyo ally. Gonzalez defends Mancao On Friday, Gonzalez admitted said he had spoken with Mancao months before the latter returned to the Philippines. However, the former Justice chief denied that he tried to influence or pressure Mancao into implicating Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito killings. "It is correct that Mancao talked to me a few months before he arrived. It was his wife who sent an email asking if he [Mancao] can return to the Philippines. He was willing to testify. He was already subject to the extradition process, and I was the secretary of Justice," explained Gonzalez. He likewise denied having any knowledge that Mancao received offers to be reinstated to the police force in exchange for testifying against Lacson. – VVP/MRT/JV, GMANews.TV