Erap: I barely knew Mancao

"I barely knew Cezar Mancao II." This was the statement of former President Joseph “Erap" Estrada on Thursday after the former police officer claimed he reported directly to, and received orders from the former chief executive. Estrada said that when he was still president, he only had direct communication with former National Police chief and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson. "Ni hindi ko nga halos kilala ‘yan, kung sino yan, ano ang mga puwesto niyan. Si Lacson lang ang kinakausap ko diyan. Sa Cabinet, kahit undersecretary hindi ko kinakausap," Estrada said in an interview on GMA News’ Unang Hirit. (I barely knew Mancao, who he is, and what position he held. I only talked to Lacson. Even in my Cabinet, I did not talk to department undersecretaries.) Mancao headed the Task Group Luzon of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), headed by then PNP chief Lacson. Members of the PAOCTF allegedly carried out the killing of veteran publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Mancao’s testimony in court on Wednesday made no mention of whether his alleged direct ties with Estrada had something to do with the twin killings. Estrada and Lacson had strongly and repeatedly denied they were responsible for Dacer and Corbito’s abduction and death.

Who is the mastermind? Mancao’s Feb. 13, 2009 affidavit linked Lacson and Estrada to the crime. Mancao recounted that former Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino – a known Lacson protégé – used his men in "special operations" to "neutralize" a media man critical of Estrada. Mancao added that the operations had the nod of Malacañang, or the Office of the President. “Aquino responded to Lacson that he intends to neutralize or liquidate Delta first because ERAP was already peeved at him, saying: “Tapusin muna namin si Delta, Sir, kasi naiirita na si Bigote sa kaniya," a portion of the affidavit read. “Delta referred to media and PR man Salvador ‘Bubby’ Dacer (Dacer), while ‘Bigote’ was the commonly-known pseudonym of Erap," Mancao further says. Before his death, Dacer was reportedly in possession of documents implicating Estrada to the 1999 BW Resources stock-price fixing scandal. - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV