Mancao in Florida / Palace intolerance

The "Hello Garci" CD on election cheating has led to political crisis. The crisis has divided the people. The division has bred intolerance. Such intolerance was displayed in last weekend’s hosing down of demonstrators at Mendiola, among them a former Vice President, a senator, a congressman, three bishops, priests and nuns.

Granting that their rally permit was for Plaza Miranda two kilometers away, but that they violated it by marching to San Sebastian Church so near Mendiola Bridge that leads to Malacañang. Granting that ex-VP Teofisto Guingona, 77, and Bishops Julio Labayen, 79, Antonio Tobias, 64, and Deogracias Iñiguez, 64, broke ranks and headed towards Malacañang in defiance of a no-rally zone. Still the use of water cannons was uncalled for.

That Malacañang taunts the marchers as "political has-beens" should have defined the response to them. The riot cops could have encircled the group and marched with them up to a point where they could be persuaded to disperse. In short, they could have been gentler. It can be done; it has been done. Were not policewomen astutely dispatched days earlier to the same spot to stop similar marchers? Did not policemen, in a rally in Quezon City weeks ago, recognize former President Cory Aquino and thus dutifully escorted her to the Batasan demo stage?

Malacañang’s policy of CPR (calibrated preemptive response) is being interpreted solely as graduated use of brute force. Cannot police generals read it also as the use of brainpower – wit, persuasion – for the same end of crowd dispersal but with acceptable means? It would not deviate from Press Sec. Ignacio Bunye’s line that the law will be enforced evenly on the rich or poor, the weak or powerful.

As it is, the intolerance that Malacañang displays is no different from the text brigades that it hates so much. Those texters mechanically regard any criticism of the Opposition as being pro-Administration. They will be fascists if they ever get to power. But Malacañang is acting fascist too.

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And so starts the hunt for former police general Cesar Mancao for the kidnap-murder of publicist Bubby Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in Nov. 2000. The Supreme Court practically has affirmed his arrest warrant last week after approving the turning as state witness of Col. Glenn Dumlao, who had confessed in his own handwriting to being part of the crime.

Authorities claim to have been keeping tabs of Mancao’s whereabouts in America, along with co-accused Michael Ray Aquino. The last they said, he was serving as security chief for a Filipino-American’s factory in a suburb of San Francisco. Do they know he’s now in Florida?

Sources from the Filipino community in the southeastern state reveal that Mancao has been working as a real estate and mortgage broker. One of them e-mailed to me two of Mancao’s business cards, which show that he has changed his first name to "Cezar".

The first, with a blue background, has his picture on it and proclaims: "Cezar Mancao, M.B.A., Realtor/Licensed Mortgage Broker, Multimillion-Dollar Producer". He works for SellState Results Realty Inc., with offices at 1750N University Drive, Suite 126, Coral Springs, Fl. 33071. Direct line (954) 673-2576; office (954) 753-0057; fax (954) 753-0064. E-mail: [email protected]. "It doesn’t cost any more to hire the best," it ends.

The other, on yellow background, is for Homeowners Direct Mortgage Corp. It also proclaims "Cezar Mancao, M.B.A., Licensed Mortgage Broker and Realtor". Same direct line, same e-mail, and same office address, except for Suite 211. Plus additional numbers: office (954) 755-3330; fax (954) 755-2317. "My business is to save you a lot of money if you sell/buy a house and do the loan with me," it advertises. "$500 additional discount if this card is signed."

Dumlao, meanwhile, is himself missing and believed to have fled to America. Upon implicating Mancao and Aquino, he was sent to the custody of the PNP-Intelligence Group in Camp Crame. In mid-2003 the Kuratong Baleleng massacre case against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Mancao and Aquino was revived. Dumlao was identified in the 1995 murders as the officer who volunteered to mow down the robbers they had arrested in Parañaque and marked for summary execution in Quezon City. Fearful of a court trial, he slipped out of camp and hid in his hometown. The authorities paid no heed to reports that he was there for a month tending fighting cocks. Then, he disappeared, and was last reported to have landed in California with the help of none other than Mancao and Aquino, who wanted him out of the prosecution’s list of witnesses.

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UP grads can be unforgiving. To lawyers who arrogantly opine from flawed Internet research, they suggest two exercises to hone their skills:

(1) Go to www.google.com. Type in "Failure", without the quote marks. Instead of clicking "Search", hit "I’m Feeling Lucky". That will take you to an interesting site.

(2) This one is a bit more complicated. But amazingly, by going to www.worldschoolphotographs.com and typing in the name of your school and the year you attended, you will be able to view your picture, or at least of your friends.

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E-mail: [email protected]