Cezar Mancao named cybercrime center chief

Former police officer Cezar Mancao II has been appointed to a government body dealing with the country’s cybersecurity, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Wednesday.

The DICT media relations office said Mancao was now the executive director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC). The DICT did not say when Mancao assumed the position.

Malacañang confirmed the appointment.

“We are confident that Mr. Mancao’s professional credentials would contribute to cybercrime prevention in the country. We wish him good luck in his new assignment,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

Created by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, the CICC is in charge of formulating a national cybersecurity plan and coordinating the preparation of appropriate and effective measures to prevent and suppress cybercrime activities as well as monitoring cybercrime cases.

It was also mandated to facilitate international cooperation on intelligence, investigations, training and capacity building related to cybercrime prevention, suppression and prosecution.

Mancao was among those charged for the twin killings of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. His co-accused, Senator Panfilo Lacson, was cleared of the charges.

Mancao surrendered to the Philippine National Police in January 2017 after escaping from the National Bureau of Investigation in 2013.

He complained then that all the principal accused have already been cleared of the charges and are living normal lives while he remains detained.—AOL, GMA News