MANILA, Philippines?He swears he does not ?know him from Adam.?

But when they met at a party on Monday, deposed President Joseph Estrada had no trouble recognizing and acknowledging Cezar Mancao, the former police colonel who accused him of masterminding the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito.

Estrada waved and smiled at Mancao when the latter arrived at the birthday dinner of his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, at the Nipa Hut restaurant in Pasig on Monday night.

Mancao, in turn, politely nodded and smiled back at the disgraced former president, who earlier denied knowing Mancao despite the latter?s having occupied a sensitive post in a special police unit that Estrada himself created.

?I?m okay. I feel relaxed. I don?t have any grudge against him anymore,? Mancao said about meeting Estrada.

?I have already forgiven him,? he added.

The two sat at the same table, separated by just three chairs, for about 20 minutes, but they did not talk to each other. Estrada looked uneasy while Mancao often glanced in his direction.

The fleeting encounter between the two was the first since Mancao testified on Aug. 26 that Estrada had ordered the 2000 killing of Dacer and Corbito.

At the time of the double murders, Mancao was the operations chief of the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). He fled to the United States when he was implicated in the killings.

In his testimony, Mancao also claimed that Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who formerly headed the PAOCTF, had directed another PAOCTF officer, Michael Ray Aquino, to ?neutralize? Dacer.

Lacson and Estrada have denied any involvement in the murders.

As he left the party, Estrada again waved at his accuser.

He told reporters he was surprised to see Mancao at the party and would not have gone if he had known that Mancao would be there.

?The media might give some twist to it,? he explained.

Estrada explained that he had gone on the invitation of the Pasang Masda, the jeepney drivers? association that installed him as its honorary chair during Topacio?s party.

Topacio is also the legal counsel of the transport group.

Asked how he felt on seeing Mancao, Estrada replied: ?Nothing. I felt nothing. Why would I feel something??

He said he was just being civil when he greeted Mancao.

Estrada stressed that it was the first time that he had seen his accuser in person ?since he came back.?

He became quite angry when pressed about his encounter with Mancao.

?You?re like an investigator. What else do you want to know?? he said.

?When you ask questions, you always give the answer a spin,? he said as he got into his black sports utility vehicle.

Mancao said Estrada?s actions ?only proved that he really knows me.?

Mancao meanwhile has disclosed plans to run for representative of the first district of Compostela Valley.

He said he decided to run for Congress after meeting with relatives and friends from his Monkayo hometown.