MANILA: Fearful for his life and saying he was a victim of injustice, former police superintendent Cezar Mancao has walked out of detention from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“Please don’t remove my things without proper inventory. I am just a victim of injustice here. Thanks, Cesar Mancao,” read the letter Mancao purportedly signed and left on the table inside his cell.
He said he suspected a political ally of President Benigno Aquino to be responsible for his suffering.
Mancao is on trial for the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.
President Aquino ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate how Mancao was able to slip out of detention at the NBI headquarters in Manila.
“The President instructed Secretary Leila to investigate the cause of his escape and to also hold accountable those behind it,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said at Malacañang.
NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas confirmed Mancao’s escape early on Thursday morning.
Rojas said he had alerted all NBI units nationwide to be on the lookout for Mancao while an investigation was on to determine the officials responsible for the escape.
“We have tasked our Criminal Intelligence Division to handle the investigation. His escape is a big slap in the bureau’s face,” Rojas said.
Rojas said two guards who apparently allowed Mancao to escape had been detained.
The two guards, identified as Pablo Remalante and Ibrahim Musa, were held for questioning.
Footage from a security camera showed Mancao calmly leaving his cell before dawn, carrying a black bag containing his personal belongings, according to Rojas.
Mancao was reportedly seen on the security camera wearing a white T-shirt and a bull cap, going through the main gate of the NBI along Taft Avenue at 1.14am.
The escape was discovered almost two hours later, officials said.
Investigators said Mancao apparently boarded a waiting vehicle outside. His cell was separate from the rest of the detainees and leads directly to the gas station and the parking area at the back of the NBI’s main office.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
