Murder suspect strolls out of Philippine jail AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

MANILA: A former policeman on trial for murder in the Philippines escaped from jail yesterday, then embarrassed authorities further by speaking to media outlets over the phone.
Ex-police superintendent Cezar Mancao, charged with murder over the 2000 killings of a well-known publicist and his driver, casually walked out of a detention centre in Manila with the help of prison wardens, authorities said.
“His escape is a big slap to the bureau’s face,” National Bureau of Investigation director Nonnatus Rojas told reporters after confirming the escape.
The NBI is the investigative arm of the justice department, in whose supposedly heavily secured facility Mancao was held.
Rojas said two guards who apparently let Mancao escape had been detained.
Footage from a security camera showed Mancao calmly leaving his cell before dawn carrying a bag containing his personal belongings, according to Rojas.
Mancao, who has been in jail since 2009, then spoke with national television and radio stations to explain that he fled because he feared he would be killed in detention.
“I reached the point where I could not take it any more,” he repeatedly said in the interviews.
The escape is the latest embarrassment for Philippine law enforcers, who have long been dogged by accusations of incompetence and corruption.
In 2003 Islamic militant Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi walked out of a high-security prison inside the national police headquarters in Manila as then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard was on a state visit.
Mancao and another policeman, Michael Ray Aquino, were charged with murder in 2001 over the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver. The two accused were proteges of then-national police chief Panfilo Lacson, who headed a special anti-crime task force which rights group said carried out summary executions of criminals.
Mancao had told prosecutors that Lacson, now a senator, ordered the killing because Dacer was seen as a critic of their political patron, then-president Joseph Estrada.
Lacson fled the country for about one year to avoid prosecution and only returned after he was cleared by a court. However authorities pursued the charges against Mancao and Aquino, who remains in jail.

Troops told to pursue talks with communist rebels

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is encouraging military field units to hold localized negotiations with rebels as the peace talks between the national government and the communists remain stalled.

Gazmin said such move could help the military officials attain peace in their respective areas.

“We encourage the military (to hold localized talks) so that there will be peace in their areas of responsibility,” the defense chief said in a press conference Monday.

“If you are going to wait (for the impasse in the national level to be resolved), it will take long before the instruction is relayed (to the ground),” he added.

Gazmin said the supposed differences between the communist leaders in Netherlands and local commanders also delay the relaying of policies in the field.

“If you are a commander and you want peace, you should talk to them (rebels),” he said.

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Gazmin believes that the communist leaders negotiating with the government do not feel the sentiments of those in the farms or those struggling in the mountains.

 

“Some of them (rebels) are tired (of fighting) and they can see the benefits of peace,” he said.

The peace talks between the government and the communists hit an impasse due to differences over jailed insurgents facing criminal cases.

The National Democratic Front (NDF), which represents the rebels in the talks, insists that its jailed leaders be freed since they are covered by immunity guarantees.

The government, however, refused to do so, saying the NDF has no means to prove that the jailed rebels are indeed peace consultants who should be immune from arrests.

Last week, government chief negotiator Alexander Padilla said they are considering a “new approach” to peacefully resolve the conflict with the communists.

Some sectors believe Padilla practically gave up on the peace talks with the NDF when he made the statement.

“We cannot wait forever for the other side if they continually refuse to go back to the negotiating table without preconditions. The government will be taking a new approach to pursue peace,” Padilla said in a statement.

“We have always been open to resume formal negotiations with them, but they keep on insisting on preconditions, such as the release of their detained consultants,” he added.

Padilla said the communists had also demanded that the government abolish its peace and development programs like the conditional cash transfer and Pamana, which aims to promote prosperity in conflict areas.

“These demands are just preposterous. We don’t want to engage in a negotiation where the other party is clearly fooling us,” Padilla said.

Despite the impasse, Gazmin said they still prefer peaceful means to resolve the conflict with the communists.

“We are all Filipinos and it’s about time we sit down and talk so that we save more lives,” he said. – Alexis Romero with C. M.

(philstar.com)