Manero set to surrender in a few days

DAVAO – Fugitive priest-killer Norberto Manero Jr., whose numerous demands for turning himself in have been rejected by the government, is set to surrender within the next few days to Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza.

"I have been in contact with Manero in the last few days, and he has signified his intention to surrender to me," Dureza said. "I just can’t say exactly when this will happen."

President Arroyo said yesterday she would not agree to any conditions for the surrender of the escaped convict.

"He is surrendering without conditions," the President said.

Dureza, who also heads the government panel in negotiations with separatist rebels, said the fugitive will drop all his demands once he turns himself in.

"He told me he will be dropping all demands after being informed that government is not in a position to entertain demands from a fugitive," he said.

Manero earlier set four demands for his surrender, including the reinstatement of the conditional pardon granted him in 1999. He escaped from the Sarangani provincial jail last week and has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

Dureza declined to reveal where Manero was currently hiding or how they would go about with the arrangements for the surrender.

He likewise refused to say if the priest-killer would be committed to the same cell in Sarangani.

"We are now in the midst of talking with him and everything is being readied. I just cannot disclose the details at this time," Dureza said.

Sarangani police officials said they are confident that the fugitive would turn himself in.

Senior Superintendent Cesar Daquil said a message relayed by Manero’s common-law wife, Julie Yee, indicated that a surrender would take place in the coming weeks.

"On the basis of her communications with us, Manero will surrender in early April," Daquil said.

Yee is believed to have aided the escape of Manero, an accusation which she has denied.

Known as Kumander Bucay, Manero headed a paramilitary group composed of cultists known as Ilaga. He was given a 40-year prison term in 1987 in connection with the murder of Italian priest Tullio Favali in 1985, but his sentence was reduced to 24 years by former President Fidel Ramos in 1997.

After serving more than 13 years in jail, he became eligible for pardon. Former President Joseph Estrada freed him on a conditional pardon on Dec. 16, 1999.

In March, 2000, Manero was arrested and jailed on orders of Judge Jaime Infante of the Sarangani Regional Trial Court Branch 38 while undergoing trial for the murder of brothers Ali and Mamabawatan Mamalumpong in South Cotabato in 1977. – With Allen Estabillo