Mancao arraigned today

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will provide security for former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II during his arraignment today before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the 2000 murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

NBI agents have taken custody of Mancao after his arrival on June 4 from Los Angeles, California.

Mancao is staying at an undisclosed area at the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue in Manila.

Lawyer Ricardo Diaz, chief of the NBI Anti-Terrorism Division (ATD), said Mancao would be made available to the court.

“We will escort him. It will be sufficient to ensure his safety and attendance at the hearing. We have sufficient number of agents to provide security,” Diaz said, but he declined to give details on how many agents will be escorting him to court.

Mancao will be arraigned at the Manila RTC Branch 18 at the sala of presiding Judge Myra Garcia Fernandez at 10:30 a.m.

“We could coordinate with the agents and other authorities, including the police. I will be there escorting him,” said Diaz. However, he said lawyer Claro de Castro Jr., chief of the NBI Interpol, the other NBI official who escorted Mancao back to the Philippines, would not be part of the team.

Diaz also said that Mancao’s wife, Maricar, their children, and his legal counsel lawyer Arneda Valera, will be arriving today also from Los Angeles.

Diaz declined to state what flight Maricar, the children and Valera would be on, but NBI sources said they are scheduled to arrive today at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 at 5:30 a.m., via Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 103 from Los Angeles.

“I was informed that she will be arriving and I hope she will arrive from the US. She came from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will take a flight from Los Angeles to Manila. A small contingent of NBI agents will be meeting her and securing her from the NAIA to the NBI,” said Diaz.

He also said the security detail for Maricar Mancao will not be as elaborate as the one for the former police official’s arrival from the US.

“Our responsibility is to secure Mancao, to make him available for trial, to ensure that he is safe so that he can testify and tell the truth, if ever, as he is saying, that he will be telling the truth. That’s our job, to keep him secure,” said Diaz.

Diaz, on the other hand, said he has no idea if the wife will also be staying at the NBI in the meantime, saying that this would depend on the family.

Mancao arrived in Manila last June 4 and went straight to NBI headquarters in Manila.

The NBI said Mancao is still considered an accused, but he has offered to be a state witness.

DOJ rejects Mancao transfer

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has opposed a petition at a Manila court seeking to transfer Mancao to the Manila City Jail from the custody of the NBI.

Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said that the security and safety of Mancao should be given consideration.

“We have to look into the security aspect. There is a threat to his life, it’s not an ordinary threat. That’s the reason why we have Mr. Mancao at the NBI,” she said in an interview.

Devanadera was reacting to the petition of a lawyer for three other suspects in the Dacer-Corbito case which asked the Manila RTC to transfer Mancao to the Manila City Jail like any ordinary detainee instead of being detained at the NBI headquarters.

Lawyer Dante David filed a motion before Manila RTC Branch 18 Judge Fernandez requiring the commitment of Mancao at the Manila City Jail.

David is representing Marino Soberano, Jose Escalante and Mauro Torres, three of the 21 accused in the Dacer-Corbito case.

In a four-page motion, David said Soberano, Escalante and Torres have been languishing at the Manila City Jail for eight years now while Mancao is detained at NBI headquarters, in a place similar to a room at a five-star hotel.

David added that detaining Mancao at NBI headquarters usurps the power of supervision by the court over all detained accused. - With Edu Punay