Lacson cautions government not to hide Dumlao and Mancao

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Panfilo Lacson called on authorities yesterday not to hide former police officers Glenn Dumlao and Cezar Mancao II when they arrive in the Philippines as they might also be spirited out of the airport like what happened to ZTE witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

Lacson said Dumlao and Mancao, who had been linked to the Dacer-Corbito case, would be more secure with media around to cover their return to the country.

“Former Senior Superintendents Dumlao and Mancao should not be hidden from media upon arrival. I need not call to mind what nearly happened to Jun Lozada,” he said, referring to Lozada’s alleged abduction by airport security and police upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong in February last year, apparently to prevent the Senate from getting him to testify in its investigation into the NBN-ZTE controversy.

It was only after the media learned of Lozada’s abduction that he was finally brought to La Salle Greenhills.

Lozada would eventually go on to bare details of the anomalous $329-million national broadband network deal with ZTE Corp. of China.

As for Dumlao and Mancao, Lacson voiced concern over reports that airport authorities would clamp down on media trying to cover the arrival of the two former police officers.

“I for one will want them to face the court and tell the truth. As I have said, truth will be my greatest ally, if it will be allowed to prevail in this case,” he said in a statement.

In a speech delivered at the Manila Hotel, Lacson reiterated that he did not have anything to do with the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.

For the past eight years since the Arroyo government came to power, Lacson said he had been the subject of unrelenting vilification. 

“I have been persecuted no end and all sorts of lies have been thrown my way. All of these have been proven false, including alleged money laundering, illegal drugs, kidnapping, and even being gay,” Lacson said.

The senator said the only reason he could see was that he had been “consistent and unflinching in my crusade against corruption in all forms and at all instances.”

“The whole government bureaucracy has been infected by the cancer of corruption, and Filipinos are suffering because of it,” Lacson said.

He stressed “none of these lies or black propaganda” would stop him from fighting corruption.

“Pardon my asking – how does one respond to innuendoes? But should I choose to remain quiet, people might perceive the lies as truth. I will repeat what I have said time and again – I had nothing to do with the Dacer-Corbito case,” Lacson said.

“And I will not be deterred. I will continue to inform our people of the corruption and shenanigans in this government whenever there is corruption to be told to the people because they have the right to be informed where their hard-earned tax money should not have gone,” he added.

Lacson said the country’s supposed democracy was not working because justice was denied to many and twisted for some.

Lacson appears in an information-commercial about his anti-corruption advocacy.

“Fighting corruption is about restoring fair play for all. For it is corruption, more than anything else, that distorts the systems enshrined in a democratic order. If those of us who have a stake in the system want it to prevail against alien ideologies, we must make certain that it affords equal opportunity and fair play,” he said.

No Dumlao today

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said no exact date has been set for Dumlao’s arrival from the US.

Earlier, news reports quoted Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as saying that Dumlao was expected to arrive today.

“It (arrival today) is not confirmed. He is not yet under our custody,” NBI director Nestor Mantaring told The STAR.

“We still have no information about Dumlao’s arrival,” he said.

The NBI chief also declined to give any details of the arrival and security preparations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for Dumlao’s and Mancao’s arrival

A source at the NBI said that Dumlao will be arriving at around 6 a.m. on Sunday.

The source said NBI officials Claro de Castro Jr., chief of the NBI-Interpol Division, and Ricardo Diaz, chief of the Anti-Terrorism Division, are booked on Philippine Airlines flight PR 103 from Los Angeles to Manila, which is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Sunday morning.

Dumlao is also said to be booked on the same PAL flight, according to the source.

Sources also said that Dumlao’s arrival papers might be processed inside the plane, and not at the usual counters of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the airport.

He might be transported to the NBI in a bullet-proof vehicle with escorts to “prevent any snipers from attempting to shoot him.”

The source said Dumlao would be taken to the vehicle which would parked next to the plane.

But Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso Cusi said Dumlao would be made to undergo normal arrival procedures although he would be guarded and separated from the rest of the passengers “so that the flow of incoming passengers will not be disrupted.”– With Sandy Araneta, Rudy Santos