Ex-cops linked to Dacer slay arrested in US
December 9, 2008
Written by News Team, in Articles/Stories
Facing extradition after their arrest separately in Florida and New York are former Senior Superintendent Cesar Mancao II and former Superintendent Glenn Dumlao, respectively. Both have standing warrants of arrest after they were charged with kidnapping and murder.
Both were under the command of now Sen. Panfilo Lacson who was chief of the Philippine National Police under then President Joseph Estrada. Also linked to the murder of Dacer is former police superintendent Michael Ray Aquino who is now serving sentence for his involvement in the espionage case of former marine P. Aragoncillo.
The two would be brought to a Federal District Court – Mancao in Fort Lauderdale and Dumlao in New York for an identity verification hkearing. Manila has reportedly forwarded the fingerprint files of both Dumlao and Mancao to New York and Florida.
In Manila, Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said that American authorities have already approved the extradition request by the Philippine government. The Department of Foreign Affairs at the same time is still awaiting the report of the Philippine Embassy in Washington and the Philippine Consulate General in New York.
“Both (Mancao and Dumlao) have outstanding arrest warrants. The Philippine justice department made an extradition request to its US counterpart, which approved the request. The two were picked up Nov. 20 by virtue of the extradition,” Blancaflor said.
It is expected that Mancao and Dumlao will try to exhaust all legal remedies to prevent them from being extradited by US authorities.
The Philipines requested the extradition of Mancao, Dumlao and Aquino on March 28, 2008, after the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 18, issued warrants for their arrest.
In March 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Aquino for espionage. In 2006, Mancao was arrested by the FBI in Miami as a witness against Aquino.
The Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C., which has concurrent jurisdiction over Florida where the former police officer is residing, reported that Mancao posted a cash bail bond of $75,000 with a guarantee that the amount would be payable should he take flight.
In additional $500,000 equity was also imposed as part of the bail agreement. He was released on April 19.
The request for the arrest of Mancao was anchored on several documents, including the warrant of arrest for double murder issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court.
Alvarez said the PCTC has completed consolidating case records from various law enforcement and judicial agencies on Mancao, as primary suspect in the Dacer-Corbito murder case.
Mancao fled the country in 2001 after he was also implicated in the bloody May 1, 2001 siege and has since been reportedly seen in different locations abroad.
He was chief of the Presidential Anti-Organized Task Force (PAOCTF) for Luzon at the time of the Dacer-Corbito abduction. Then PNP chief and now Senator Lacson headed PAOCTF.
Dacer and Corbito were killed and their bodies were burned on the evening of Nov. 24 in a creek near Barangay Buna Lejos in Indang, Cavite.
NBI forensic experts later recovered Dacer’s ring and dentures from the exhumed ashes. The victim’s children confirmed that the items were their father’s.
In November 2007, or nearly seven years later, a Manila judge issued a warrant of arrest against Dumlao for the abduction and twin murders.
He was supposed to be one of the government’s key witnesses in the murder case but he has been in hiding since middle of 2003, paving the way for the issuance of an arrest order.
Sources said Dumlao has been hiding in the US East Coast for more than three years now. The police have been exerting efforts to convince him to come back. Dumlao was charged with double murder along with other members of the defunct PAOCTF – Chief Inspector Boy Arnado, Inspector Bobby Lancauan, Senior Police Officer 4 Boy Caladuan, SPO4 Mauro Torres, one SPO3 Villanueva, SPO1 Mario Sarmiento, SPO1 William Reed, SPO1 Ruperto Nemeno, one PO3 Lacasandile and PO2 Thomas Sarmiento.
Civilians charged for the crime were Crisostomo Purificacion, Diego de Pedro, Renato Malabanan, Margarito Cueno, Rommel Ryal and two unidentified men. Records showed that the 18 men were charged on the basis of the testimony of state witnesses Jimmy Lopez, his brother William and Alex Diloy.
The names of former senior superintendent Teofilo Viña, SPO4 Marino Soberano, SPO3s Jose Escalante, Jovencio Malabanan, Rommel Rollan and Cueno also cropped up in the course of the investigation into the twin murders.
In its complaint, the NBI said witness Mario Benavidez identified Sarmiento as among those who abducted Dacer and Corbito near the boundary of Makati and Manila at around 11:30 a.m. of Nov. 24, 2000.
The names of Mancao and former police superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, both former aides of Lacson, also surfaced during the investigation.
In a text message, former government asset Mary “Rosebud” Ong, who has linked Lacson to several crimes, said, “His days are numbered.”
“Other victims and witnesses have all been afraid of Ping and his gang.
God is helping us. It is time that we need to come together to bring him to jail, where he belongs,” she said.
Former President Joseph Estrada, on the other hand, distanced himself from the arrest of Mancao and Dumlao.
In a telephone interview with *The STAR*, Estrada said it is Lacson who must be asked about the two.
“It is for Ping to answer that. Ask Ping about them. I have no comment on that,” Estrada said.
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