By Rey E. Requejo

THE wife of former police officer Cesar Mancao and the family of murdered publicist Salvador ?Bubby? Dacer have sought a protection detail from the Department of Justice for fear their lives could be in danger.

Mancao, one of the suspects in the Dacer murder case, is being extradited from the United States to face the charges.

This as Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Mancao was being considered as a state witness. ?We will study it and if he qualifies as a witness, then, whatever case the State has against him will in effect be dismissed.?

Mancao earlier said he was willing to identify the mastermind in the murders of Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.

Gonzalez said he has communicated with Mancao?s wife, Maricar, who was asking for help in case her husband will come out and reveal all.

The Justice secretary also said the department is studying the possibility of placing Dacer?s family under witness protection.

He said the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption have asked him to extend the necessary help to the Dacer family represented by Carina, daughter of the late publicist.

Due to the new evidence, new case will likely be filed against those identified by Mancao, the VACC said, even as the group sought the immediate resolution of the case.

?Given the sensitive nature of this case and the people involved in my father?s murder, I wish to ask for your assistance in any way to help move the case forward and its immediate resolution,? Carina Dacer said in her letter.

Carina disclosed that they have unearthed new evidence that would warrant the inclusion of several persons in the pending case before the lower court.

Meanwhile, Malaca?ang denied it was behind efforts to convince Mancao to turn state witness. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that if Mancao indeed wants to tell all that he knows about the case, it would be good for the country since it would tie the loose ends in the celebrated murder case.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson claimed that Malaca?ang was trying to implicate him in the celebrated murder case.

?I don?t know about that allegation of Senator Lacson about the hand of Malaca?ang on Mancao,? Ermita said.

?So he [Lacson] is just talking in the sense that he feels that he?s looked upon as a critic of Malaca?ang and therefore he thinks Malaca?ang has a hand in it. But that?s not necessarily true,? Ermita added.

?It is the duty of government to ensure the safety of witnesses of anybody involved in such cases, especially the celebrated ones. And, therefore, you can be assured that appropriate security will be provided to Supt. Mancao if and when he comes to the Philippines,? Ermita said.

Aside from Mancao, fellow police officers Glenn Dumlao and Michael Ray Aquino were also implicated in the case.

They all fled to the US while the case was undergoing preliminary investigation.