Mancao's knowledge of Dacer-Corbito case crucial to witness protection application

MANILA, Philippines – The personal knowledge of former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II of the details of the 2000 double-murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito would be crucial to his application to become state witness under the Witness Protection Program (WPP), the spokesman of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said over the weekend.

NBI spokesman Allan Contado told reporters that only Mancao’s statement is needed for his application for witness protection, and not those of the other principal co-accused like former police officers Michael Ray Aquino and Glenn Dumlao, who are in the United States facing extradition.

“The statement of the witness does not depend entirely on the statement of another witness. The issue here is the personal knowledge of the person applying as state witness, if he will qualify as such,” Contado stressed.

“Of course, it is possible (even without Dumlao’s corroboration). We will definitely wait for the result of the evaluation of the Witness Protection Program,” he said.

Contado said the NBI has taken Mancao into custody for his safety. He said Mancao is entitled to NBI security either as a witness or an accused.

Tuesday arraignment

Meanwhile, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 has scheduled Mancao’s arraignment on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The original arraignment schedule was June 17, but Judge Myra Garcia Fernandez granted the request of Mancao’s lawyers Arnedo Valera, Ferdinand Topacio and Bernard Vitriolo for more time to study the case against their client.

Earlier, Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s legal spokesman Alex Avisado denounced the NBI for allegedly giving special treatment to Mancao.

Mancao, in an affidavit, reportedly implicated Lacson – a former police chief – in the murders.  

Avisado said Mancao should be detained at the Manila City Jail (MCJ) just like the other accused in the case.

The three other suspects – Alex and William Deloy and Jimmy Lopez – who were said to have helped dump the bodies of Dacer and Corbito after they were killed and burned, are detained at the MCJ. The three have turned state witnesses.

“Maybe it would be better, to end all of these accusations, and just have Mancao out under the custody of Lacson,” Avisado said. “If something happens to him, they would only blame Sen. Lacson.”

He said the security for Mancao on his arrival from the US was tighter than the security preparation for a papal visit.