FORMER Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao should have been released within three days after his surrender because he is under the government’s Witness Protection Program, his lawyer said Thursday.
Ferdinand Topacio asked a Manila court to order Mancao’s release since he was under the WPP when he testified against Senator Panfilo Lacson on Lacson’s alleged involvement in the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case.
Topacio said he wrote former Justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima as early as 2012 to release Mancao but she refused.
“This has resulted in an anomalous and unfair situation for Mr. Mancao wherein he is the only accused left in the Dacer-Corbito case, although he is the star witness for the prosecution,” Topacio said, adding Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao, who violated his WPP immunity by testifying in favor of the accused, has already been reinstated in the police force.