Mancao escapes from NBI custody; manhunt on

MANILA, Philippines - Fearful for his life and saying he was a victim of injustice, former police superintendent Cezar Mancao walked out of detention yesterday from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“Please don’t remove my things without proper inventory. I am just a victim of injustice here. Thanks, Cesar Mancao,” read the letter Mancao purportedly signed and left on the table inside his cell.

He said he suspected a political ally of President Aquino to be responsible for his suffering.

Mancao is on trial for the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.

President Aquino ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate how Mancao was able to slip out of detention at the NBI headquarters in Manila.

“The President instructed Secretary Leila to investigate the cause of his escape and to also hold accountable those behind it,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said at Malacañang.

NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas confirmed Mancao’s escape early yesterday morning.

Rojas said he alerted all NBI units nationwide to be on the lookout for Mancao while a full investigation is being made to determine the officials responsible for the escape.

“We have tasked our Criminal Intelligence Division to handle the investigation. His escape is a big slap to the bureau’s face,” Rojas said.

Rojas said two guards who apparently allowed Mancao to escape have been detained.

The two guards, identified as Pablo Remalante and Ibrahim Musa, were held for questioning.

Footage from a security camera showed Mancao calmly leaving his cell before dawn carrying a black bag containing his personal belongings, according to Rojas.

Mancao was reportedly seen on the security camera wearing a white T-shirt and a bull cap, going through the main gate of the NBI along Taft Avenue at 1:14 a.m.

The escape was discovered almost two hours later, officials said.

Investigators said Mancao apparently boarded a waiting vehicle outside. His cell was separate from the rest of the detainees and leads directly to the gas station and the parking area at the back of the NBI main office.

Mancao and another policeman, Michael Ray Aquino, were charged with murder in 2001 over the murder of Dacer and his driver.

The two accused were proteges of then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Panfilo Lacson, who headed the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), the group accused of carrying out the assassination on Dacer in November 2009.

Mancao had testified that Lacson, now a senator, ordered the killing because Dacer was seen as a critic of their political patron, then-President Joseph Estrada.

Lacson fled the country and went into hiding for about one year to avoid prosecution and only returned after he was cleared by the Court of Appeals.

However, authorities pursued the charges against Mancao and Aquino, who remains in jail.

Mancao tags Noy ally

Mancao, who has been in jail since 2009, then spoke with national television and radio stations to explain that he fled because he feared he would be killed in detention.

Mancao said a political ally of President Aquino was behind moves of the NBI, as well as judges and court officials, to close the case.

He claimed a top official of the NBI frankly told him that there is an “unwritten order” to push him against the wall.

“I reached the point where I could not take it any more,” he repeatedly said in the interviews.

Mancao recalled seeing “footmarks” inside his cell and also a “big man” lurking. He said he reported the incident to Rojas.

“Ipapatira nila ako (They want to kill me). They want to take revenge on me. Aantayin ko pa ba na tamaan ako ng bala (Should I wait for the bullet to hit me)?” Mancao said.

Asked who could be behind the efforts to bring him to jail and join other accused in the case, Mancao pointed to Lacson, whom he said wanted to “take revenge on me.”

Lacson, for his part, refused to comment on the escape of his former subordinate.

“I have no interest in him. His escape is his problem as well as that of his custodians,” Lacson said in a text message to reporters.

“Aside from that, I would defer any comment in the meantime,” he added.

‘I needed to do this’

Mancao, who was allowed to have a cell phone inside his detention cell, did not answer calls from NBI deputy director Reynaldo Esmeralda but reportedly sent a text message to De Lima saying, “I needed to do this.”

De Lima said she immediately called Mancao.

“He was apologetic. He said sorry for what he did. He repeatedly said he has no choice because he fears for his life – that he would be certainly killed once transferred to the city jail,” De Lima said.

“So I told him we can address his fear, but I demanded and urged him to surrender right away because running away would exacerbate his situation,” she added.

De Lima said she asked Mancao to consider the repercussions of his escape.

“I told him not to just think about himself because the DOJ and NBI – we will be held liable for this.”

She even volunteered to personally fetch him so he could feel safer, but Mancao asked for a few days to think it over.

De Lima said she did not grant Mancao’s request and gave him only until yesterday night to surrender.

 â€“Delon Porcalla, Christina Mendez, Evelyn Macairan