FBI takes Mancao into custody as ‘material witness’

Cashiered Senior Superintendent Cesar Mancao has been taken into custody by US authorities as a "material witness in New Jersey," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The DFA cited the report of the Philippine Embassy in Washington stating that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took Mancao in custody as a possible witness but did not say for which case.

It was not immediately known if Mancao could be used as a witness against his former colleague, Michael Ray Aquino, who is charged with espionage.

Aquino has been denied bail and is presently detained at a federal prison in New Jersey while Mancao has been taken to the Miami Federal Detention Center in Florida.

Ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario quoted Mancao’s lawyer as saying "the Federal Attorney General’s office was sending an officer to Florida this week to see Mancao and therefore they have suspended their efforts to get him out on bail in the meantime."

Philippine Honorary Consul General in Miami Angelo Macatangay Jr. submitted a report saying he was allowed to see Mancao at the Miami detention center.

At the time of the visit, Mancao was conferring with his lawyer.

Macatangay said the FBI allowed him to visit Mancao and observed that the former police officer was obviously concerned about his fate and appeared tired but in good health.

The lawyer informed Macatangay that Mancao would be transferred from the Miami Federal Detention Center once the FBI completes its paperwork and the former police officer could file for bail the next day before the US Federal Magistrate.

Macatangay informed the Philippine embassy that he received a telephone call last April 14 from Mancao informing him that he voluntarily turned himself in to the custody of FBI officials in Miami the day before after he was sought by federal agents at his home.

For the meantime, the Philippine Consulate General in New York said they would closely monitor Mancao’s case should the former police official be flown to New Jersey in connection with the espionage charges against Aquino.

The Consulate General is also monitoring the progress of the espionage case against Aquino.

Mancao and Aquino had served in the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) then headed by former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, now Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Both were tagged as the prime suspects in the killing of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

Before they could be charged in Manila in July 2001, both fled to the United States.

Aquino was arrested last year for allegedly passing on classified information coming from Filipino-American Leandro Aragoncillo, an FBI intelligence analyst.

Aquino was indicted on Oct. 6 on a conspiracy charge which carries a jail sentence of up to five years, and another charge for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was denied bail since he was considered a flight risk.

Aragoncillo, on the other hand, faces a third count for downloading classified US government information about the Philippines and transferring it to his private computer.

He has been cooperating with investigators since his arrest and is reportedly negotiating a plea agreement.

A Federal District judge was assigned to hear the case against Aquino.

The DFA, on the other hand, would not comment on the case against Aragoncillo since he is a US citizen.