Mancao extradition expected next week

MANILA, Philippines - Former senior superintendent Cezar Mancao II is expected to be extradited not later than March 31 to shed light on the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday.

Gonzalez also said he has sent Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Oscar Calderon to the US to “to check on the extradition of Mancao considering what happened to Dumlao.”

The extradition of former senior superintendent Glenn Dumlao, another suspect in the slayings, was held off by a US court.

He stressed that agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and not Calderon, will get Mancao. Calderon, who left Manila last Sunday, had also been instructed to determine the “circumstances” that led to Dumlao’s fighting his extradition.

The Justice chief said that while the government has yet to receive official notice from federal authorities, he expects the extradition to take place on March 31, which is the deadline set by a federal district court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I am confident that Mancao will not change (his mind). There’s no other factor that can stop his extradition but the attitude of US authorities,” he told reporters.

Gonzalez stressed that he does not expect Mancao to oppose his extradition at the last minute judging from reports that the former police official himself is eager to return home and put closure to the case.

Still, Gonzalez said he’d rather wait for an official notice from the US before ordering NBI officials to go to Florida to fetch Mancao.

“He might be spending Holy Week in the Philippines,” Ricardo Diaz, chief of the Anti-Terrorism Division of the NBI, told The STAR.

Diaz arrived on March 23 from the US with Claro de Castro Jr., chief of the NBI Interpol Division, after failing to get Dumlao.

It was reportedly Mancao’s request that Calderon, his godfather, accompany him on his return trip to the Philippines.

Diaz also chided US authorities for not informing the NBI earlier of Dumlao’s filing of a petition to oppose his extradition.

“We were not informed by the US authorities about these (petitions),” said Diaz.

“He (Dumlao) had already planned to contest his extradition even before we arrived in the US,” he added.

Diaz said US authorities have assured them that Dumlao would eventually be extradited.

“This is just a due process matter. But the final decision will order his extradition,” Diaz said.

Dumlao is being held at the San Bernardino Central Detention Center in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Diaz laughed off reports that the government has no case because the remains of Dacer and Corbito were never found.

Diaz said that even without a body, a murder could be proven through other pieces of evidence, which in the case of the Dacer-Corbito murders include personal belongings and dental records.

Meanwhile, the NBI is also eyeing the extradition of former police officer Michael Ray Aquino, another suspect in the murders, who is serving time in the US for possession of classified documents.

Arrest warrant

Sen. Panfilo Lacson denied knowledge of the warrant of arrest on his former driver Reynaldo Lopez Oximoso for multiple murder.

Gonzalez said earlier Lacson could face criminal charges for harboring a fugitive.

Lacson also said Oximoso relayed through a contact that his family “is now being harassed in their place in Bataan.”

“This administration will not stop at anything to pin me down even to the point of harassing innocent people to twist and sacrifice the truth in order to suit their evil purpose,” Lacson said.

“I appeal to those members of law enforcement to spare Oximoso’s family and not allow themselves to be used as tools to subvert the rule of law,” Lacson said.

Oximoso was the driver of the vehicle where Lacson and Aquino reportedly talked about the plot to kill Dacer.

Gonzalez said Lacson had admitted hiring Oximoso as his driver.

Oximoso issued a statement denying having heard such a conversation between Lacson and Aquino.

NBI Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda said the warrant was issued on April 22, 1993 by Quezon City Judge Jaime Salazar.

Meanwhile, a Bagac, Bataan municipal consultant said Oximoso or Ka Rene is enjoying his retirement as a simple and jolly farmer in an upland village of Binukawan, Bagac, Bataan.

Nick Ancheta, also a former municipal councilor, said Oximoso had never talked about being harassed by law-enforcement units. The STAR tried unsuccessfully to reach Oximoso on his mobile phone. – With Sandy Araneta, Aurea Calica, and Raffy Viray