Hunt for Mancao takes a backseat

MANILA, Philippines—The manhunt for fugitive ex-police officer Cezar Mancao has taken a backseat, with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) focusing on investigation into the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard in the waters off Batanes province.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that the probe of the shooting incident was the “highest priority” of the NBI now.

But she said the NBI investigations into the cases of activist Jonas Burgos, the Sabah crisis as well as Mancao’s case would still continue.

De Lima has been angered by Mancao’s escape from NBI custody and his media interviews afterwards, saying this had been an embarrassment for her department.

“He’s actually wasting the time and resources of the NBI because the NBI has more important things to do than look for him,” De Lima said of Mancao.

Mancao escaped from NBI custody early this month after a Manila court discharged him as a state witness in the Dacer-Corbito murder case, retaining him as a suspect and ordering his transfer to the Manila City Jail.

The former police superintendent, who was among the group of police officers tagged as suspects in the December 2000 killing of publicist Bubby’ Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, was initially tapped as a state witness until he was rejected by the court. He said he escaped from the NBI because his life would be in danger in the city jail.

Mancao lost his bid to become a provincial board member of Compostela Valley in Monday’s elections.—Christine Avendaño