Mancao intervenes in Lacson case at Court of Appeals

UPDATED 4:45 p.m. - Former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II on Tuesday asked the Court of Appeals to overturn its earlier ruling that dismissed the double murder case against Sen. Panfilo Lacson. In his motion for reconsideration, Mancao said the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 did not commit an error in finding probable cause to prosecute Lacson for the killing of veteran publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Mancao was accompanied by his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio. He also filed a separate motion for leave to intervene, where he asked the appellate court to allow him to participate in the case handled by the CA. Mancao is intervening because he is not a direct party to the case. The direct parties are Lacson, as petitioner, with the following as respondents: the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18, the family of slain publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and the People of the Philippines, which is represented by the DOJ, which is in turn represented by the Office of the Solicitor General. Last February 3, the Court of Appeals voided the Manila court's finding of probable cause to prosecute Lacson for the Dacer-Corbito killings. The appellate court then dismissed the double murder case the DOJ filed against Lacson and nullified the arrest warrant the Manila court issued against the senator, who has been in hiding since the case was lodged against him in January last year. The Court of Appeals made such ruling because Mancao was "not a credible and trustworthy witness." Mancao, the Department of Justice's key witness against Lacson, had pointed to Lacson as the mastermind behind Dacer's and Corbito's killing. Mancao had worked under Lacson when the latter concurrently headed the Philippine National Police and the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), the unit that allegedly carried out the twin murders. Mancao points CA's 'errors' In his motion, Mancao said it was not for the Court of Appeals to decide on his credibility becaue the appellate court cannot yet rule on the merits of the Dacer-Corbito case. "Intervenor's credibility, as well as those of his statements/testimonies have been unduly pre-judged in the present proceedings," he said. "[The Court of Appeals] exhaustively dissected and calibrated the statements of intervenor as if it was trial on the merits, and ruled on purely factual issues," he added. Mancao likewise said the Manila court did not commit an error because it first has to rule on the probable cause to issue an arrest warrant against Lacson has before it scrutinizes the credibility of a witness. "It is important to note that an exhaustive debate on the credibility of a witness is not within the province of the determination of probable cause... Established jurisprudence provides that before issuing warrants of arrest, judges merely determine personally the probability, not the certainty, of the guilt of an accused," said Mancao. He then said that asked the the CA to "reconsider and set aside its February 3, 2011 decision" to issue a resolution denying Lacson's petition "for lack of merit." – VVP, GMA News