PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — THE Department of Justice sees the speedy extradition of two former police officers tagged in the killing of Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver in 2000.
The two suspects – former Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao and Supt. Glenn Dumlao were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and US Marshalls after the Philippine government requested their extradition. Mancao is now detained in Florida while Dumlao is being held in New York.
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the US Department of Justice approved the ir extradition.
“Both have outstanding arrest warrants. The two were picked up Thursday night by virtue of the extradition,” Blancaflor said.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez expects the swift extradition of the two former police officers because death penalty had been abolished in the country.
Mancao and Dumlao were key officers of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force headed by former Philippine National Police chief now Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson. They were charged with murder before a Manila court for the killing of Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Dacer and Corbito went missing in November 2000. Dacer’s Toyota Revo was found in Cavite a few days after his disappearance. In 2001, Mancao and another officer, former Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino, fled the country after Dumlao tagged them as organizers in the slaying. Dumlao subsequently disappeared and later surfaced in the United States.
In March 2005, Aquino was arrested by the FBI for espionage. He is now serving time in a US prison.
Mancao said he has been staying in Florida. He denied any involvement in the twin slays, saying he did not know Dacer. He claimed that he is being persecuted by the government because of his refusal to testify against Lacson, his former boss.
Mancao, Aquino and Lacson were implicated in the “rubout” of 11 members of the Kuratong Baleleng gang in 1995.