Remulla sees no bigger brains than Bantag behind Percy Lapid slay
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla dismissed Tuesday speculation that there may be a bigger mastermind behind the fatal ambush on radio broadcaster Percy Lapid.
"We don’t see anyone else," Remulla told reporters in Filipino when asked if someone else tapped suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag to allegedly order the killing of Lapid.
READ: Raps filed vs suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag over killing of Percy Lapid
Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, was a fierce critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. He was shot dead on October 3 while he was on his way to broadcast his radio program.
The broadcaster’s brother, journalist Roy Mabasa, said over ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo that Duterte should also be included as a person of interest in the killing.
But Remulla dismissed the possible involvement of Duterte in the killing of Lapid.
"We cannot bring it to that level. That's political. That’s already the political level. We're not concerned about the politics. We're concerned about the crimes," Remulla said.
The justice secretary, however, acknowledged that everything is possible, although it must be backed by evidence.
"From what we have it starts there. We still haven’t seen anyone else. We just follow the money and we just follow the evidence. It’s hard to speculate," Remulla said.
The National Bureau of Investigation itself is not ruling out the possibility that someone bigger than Bantag may be behind the killing of Lapid.
"We are not discounting the possibility that aside from Director General Bantag, others can be implicated in this case," NBI supervising agent Eugene Javier told GMA News partly in Filipino.
"We have to understand that Director General Bantag himself has the rank of undersecretary. It is only logical that there is someone higher than him."
Javier added that they have received intelligence reports about another alleged mastermind, but they are still verifying this.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, whose panel was supposed to start an investigation into the Lapid slay on Tuesday, shared Remulla’s view that there could not be a bigger mastermind behind the killing of the radio commentator.
Dela Rosa also said it is not plausible for Duterte to be behind Lapid’s slay as he supposedly has no motive to do so.
"Nag-retire ka na, hindi ka na presidente. Bakit hindi mo pinatay noong ikaw ay presidente pa na kaya mo lahat-lahat at saka pwede mo patayin talaga using all your powers? Ngayon pa na wala ka sa poder, saka ka magka-interes ng tao? For what?" the senator close to the former president said.
(You’ve retired. You’re no longer a president. Why didn't you kill him when you were still the president, when you could do anything and could’ve really killed using all your powers? Only now you’ll have an interest in the person when you’re no longer in power? For what?)
Sitting presidents are immune from suit but are still expected to follow the law. — with a report from Kristine Joy Patag
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