The first to come is Cesar Mancao...
Mancao ready to reveal all on Dacer-Corbito slay
By Sandy Araneta Updated March 05, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - One of the suspects in the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000 has agreed to reveal all the principal suspects and the details of the gruesome murders, the lawyer of the Dacer family revealed yesterday.
According to Demetrio Custodio, former police senior superintendent Cesar Mancao made an agreement with Dacer’s daughter, Carina, to reveal the principal players in the kidnapping and murder of Dacer and Corbito.
Carina met Mancao during his extradition hearing at Fort Lauderdale in Florida in the US last Tuesday.
Custodio told GMA news that Mancao had already made a sworn statement last Feb. 14, reportedly containing details and names behind the gruesome crime in November 2000.
“Ms. Carina Dacer has informed us that Mr. Mancao has executed an affidavit… revealing all that he knows in the Corbito-Dacer case. That means he has also identified those that he knows were involved in the crime,” Custodio said.
Custodio, however, begged off to reveal the details of Mancao’s statement.
“We are not at liberty to divulge them. We cannot categorically say (anything) right now because we are prohibited from disclosing the contents,” he said.
On Tuesday, US Southern Florida District Court Judge Lurana Snow ordered the extradition of Mancao to the Philippines to face charges of double murder of Dacer and Corbito.
Mancao reportedly signed an “Affidavit of Consent to Extradition” which was presented to the court by his lawyer Federal Public Deputy Defender Bernardo Lopez.
The extradition hearing reportedly lasted a few minutes after the presentation of the document.
By signing the waiver, Mancao agreed to be sent back to the Philippines under the extradition treaty with the US government.
“I am the person whose extradition is sought by the Philippines; and that probable cause exists to believe that I committed the offense for which extradition was requested,” read a portion of the waiver signed by Mancao.
“I further stipulate that there is probable cause to support my extradition to the requesting state (Philippines) for the charge for which extradition was sought,” it said.
Aside from Mancao, another suspect in the double murder case is former police senior superintendent Glenn Dumlao who is also in the US.
Both were separately arrested by agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Marshals following the Philippine government request their extradition.
Another suspect, former senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino is awaiting extradition charges pending the decision of his appeal in his conviction of spying.
The three former police colonels served under the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) then headed by now Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Lacson served as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief under former President Joseph Estrada.
The three police colonels were among the 22 people charged in the double murder case before the Manila Regional Trial Court that issued a warrant for their arrest.
Before the warrant of arrest was served, the three separately fled to the US, prompting the Philippine government to invoke the extradition treaty to have them sent back.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Mancao can qualify as a state witness against the other accused in the case.
Gonzalez, however, stressed that only the court can decide on whether Mancao would be allowed to turn state witness.
Gonzalez welcomed the development in saying it would allow the reopening of the preliminary investigation of the case.
“We will reopen the case – well it is pending in court anyway – for basis of new evidence. We will conduct another preliminary investigation that will be quite crucial to some people. These will be newly discovered matters which were not available before,” Gonzalez pointed out.
“So if Mancao will mention people (who were) not mentioned before, we can indict those,” he explained.
Gonzalez assured Mancao and Dumlao would be placed under protective custody once they arrive from the US through extradition.
Gonzalez though refused to reveal the contents of the supposed affidavit of Mancao but said it is consistent with the earlier testimony of Dumlao.
Asked what he thought made Mancao cooperate with the government, Gonzalez replied: “Conscience may bother him so he wants to speak the truth now what he knows or he might have felt abandoned in America by people who wanted him to go on exile.”
Sen. Lacson, on the other hand, claimed Mancao might have been pressured to sign the extradition waiver.
According to Lacson, Mancao had revealed to him last year that he is being pressured by the Philippine government.
“The last time we talked, Mancao said he was being pressured to come up with an affidavit. He lamented saying: Sir, you know the whole story, both of us have no knowledge of the incident,” Lacson said.
Lacson claimed Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, chief of the Intelligence Service Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) called Mancao in September last year, offering to reinstate the former police colonel to the service in exchange for testifying in the case. – With Edu Punay, Christina Mendez, Jose Rodel Clapano
Ping's boys are coming back home
Originally Posted by Malic
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