Family won't stay with Mancao at NBI safehouse, says lawyer

MANILA, Philippines – The family of former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II have opted to stay out of their safehouse at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) head office in Manila citing the cramped accommodation.

Mancao’s legal counsel Arnedo Valera said Maricar Mancao and their four sons will not stay in her husband’s room as it is too small and uncomfortable for all of them.

Valera denied allegations that Mancao is being quartered by the NBI in a room with five-star hotel accommodations.

“It is too small and uncomfortable for them. Maricar and the children have a private place. So as to the claim of the lawyer of Mancao’s three co-accused that he is detained in a room worth (that) of a five-star hotel, it is not true,” he said.

He said Mrs. Mancao and their sons would only visit the former police official to provide moral support.

Valera said Mrs. Mancao and the children would soon come back to the US after a month.

Mrs. Mancao and her four children arrived from the US last Wednesday, on the day when Mancao was scheduled for an arraignment in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case at the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Mancao was one of the accused in the murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

Mancao had agreed to turn state witness against the other co-accused behind the slaying. He had executed an affidavit in the US naming his former police boss, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, as among the principal suspects in the killing.

Lacson has denied the allegations but the NBI nonetheless took Mancao into custody to secure him as a possible state witness against the senator.

Mancao was provided an air-conditioned room at the NBI where heavily guarded agents strictly screen his visitors.

“When I visited Mancao, and as what I see, the detention room is for Mancao only and cannot accommodate others,” Valera said. 

He said Mancao and the family have been apart for about seven months since his arrest by US authorities for extradition.

“You know that Mancao is being treated at the United States detention facility as a hardened criminal there because he is facing double murder case here,” Valera said.

The family has not returned to the Philippines since 2001. Mancao and his family left the country shortly after the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada.

Valera, on the other hand, said Mancao expressed gratitude to the media for the coverage and the NBI for the protection given him and his family.

“He wants the case to be put under the eagle’s eyes. So he is very thankful to the media,” he said.

Valera also defended the security provided by the DOJ and the NBI for Mancao.

He said Mancao has applied for the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

The Manila court had ordered Mancao’s arraignment rescheduled to June 30.

The court granted the motion of lawyers of other co-accused to review the criminal case against Mancao as a possible state witness.

Valera, however, denied allegations of collusion between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Mancao’s lawyers.

He said they are coordinating with the DOJ in the extradition case of Mancao in the interest of justice.

Valera also clarified that Mancao’s first affidavit that he made in the US does not conflict with the latest he made.

He said the latest affidavit complements the first sworn statement made by Mancao.

“The latest affidavit is more detailed and elaborate. In the first one, he mentioned former senior superintendents Glenn Dumlao and Michael Ray Aquino, and it ends there. The latest affidavit also mentioned other participants, and he is talking about political forces here,” he said.