Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Agnes Devanadera Tuesday opposed a petition to transfer former police senior superintendent Cezar Mancao to the Manila City Jail, citing threats to his life after he decided to turn state witness in the murders of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver.

"There are circumstances that make the threats to his life as out of the ordinary. That's the reasons why we have Mr. Mancao at the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation)," Devanadera said in a interview with dzXL radio.

Mancao has been in the custody of the NBI since his extradition from the United States to give him security amid purported threats to his life because of his testimony on the murders of Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

A lawyer for the other respondents in the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case asked a Manila court to order Mancao's transfer from the custody of the NBI to the Manila City Jail.

Devanadera opposed the move, saying that though Mancao seems to enjoy perks at the NBI, he is still deprived of liberty during his detention there because he is not free to move around.

"No one can just come there, not even me, because there is a need to secure them and that need can be explained to the court," Devanadera said.

Also, Mancao will be arraigned this morning before the Manila regional trial court (RTC) to enter his plea in the Dacer-Corbito murder case.

Judge Myra Garcia-Fernandez of RTC Branch 18, in whose sala the 2000 double murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, is being heard, set Mancao's arraignment in the case that is almost halfway through with the defense scheduled to present its evidence and witnesses on June 30.