Fugitive Philippine policemen captured in US

Two former Philippine police officers accused in a politically motivated double homicide have been arrested in the U.S., authorities said Friday.

Authorities in the Philippines have charged Glenn Dumlao and Cesar Mancao with being among a group of officers who carried out the kidnapping and slaying of Salvador "Bubby" Dacer, a publicist who had represented top political figures.

Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, were snatched from a Manilla street in 2000. They were later found strangled in a creek bed. Their bodies had been doused with gasoline and burned. Investigators identified their corpses using dental records.

U.S. prosecutors said in court papers that Dumlao confessed his participation in the slaying to investigators in the Philippines, but later fled the country. He has been wanted since October of 2007.

Dumlao, 45, was arrested by U.S. immigration agents on Thursday outside his apartment in Patchogue, New York, a village about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of New York City.

Authorities said in court papers that he had been working as a house cleaner. A federal magistrate ordered him held without bail and scheduled his extradition hearing for Dec. 5. His court-appointed lawyer did not immediately return a phone call.

Mancao, 47, was arrested Thursday in Florida and was held at the Broward County Jail while awaiting a court appearance. The Associated Press was trying to determine whether he had a lawyer in either the U.S. or the Philippines who could comment on his case.

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Associated Press Writer Curt Anderson in Miami contributed to this report.