Manero in Bilibid, escapes… from wife

DAVAO CITY — Convicted priest-killer Norberto Manero managed to escape again, not from authorities, but this time from the ever-watchful eyes of his common-law wife, Julie Yee.

"Yes, we misled Julie," Manero told The STAR.

He admitted he had to mislead his wife about the exact date of his transfer from the Davao Penal Colony in Davao del Norte to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City so she would not create a commotion during the trip.

Yee reportedly learned of Manero’s transfer only yesterday when he was already in Muntinlupa.

Manero took the 7:20 a.m. Cebu Pacific flight from Davao City yesterday and was committed to the Muntinlupa facilities at around 10 a.m. He was escorted by Davao prisons director Alfredo Gozon and two other jail officers during the flight.

Manero reportedly wore a red sweatshirt over his orange prison shirt and a hat. The sleeves of the sweatshirt had to be pulled down a bit to cover the handcuffs.

While waiting for his flight at the Davao International Airport, he was reportedly kept in the office of Regional Aviation Security.

Manero and his escorts were the first to board the plane - fittingly in the rear section - and the last to get off on arrival at the domestic airport. The convict kept his head bowed most of the time so as not to create panic among the other passengers.

Unlike the case of other prominent prisoners, there was no vehicle waiting at the tarmac to take Manero to Muntinlupa when his plane arrived at domestic airport I.

Manero and the prison officials instead took the vehicle that waited for them outside the arrival terminal to take them to the National Penitentiary.

Davao penal colony officials have been apprehensive of Yee because she was believed to have aided Manero in his escape last March 2 from the Sarangani Rehabilitation Center by hiding him in the trunk of her car.

Even the convict’s former lawyer, Tomas Falgui II, had to give up handling Manero’s case reportedly because of Yee’s constant interference.

Yee, Manero’s third wife, was said to have finished her law studies but did not take the Bar.

The priest-killer expressed hope yesterday that President Arroyo would grant him his wish that the cancellation of his conditional pardon and commutation of his sentence be lifted in order for him to be a free man again.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez told reporters that the transfer of Manero was in compliance with a court order received by NBP Director Ricardo Macala. –With Delon Porcalla