Bantag drags Remulla, Catapang into conspiracy theory on Percy Lapid killing
MANILA, Philippines — Gerald Bantag — murder suspect and former head of the Bureau of Corrections — has accused Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and acting BuCor chief Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. in the murders that police have accused him of.
In a complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Bantag accused Remulla, Catapang and several others of conspiracy in the killings of broadcaster Percival Mabasa — known on radio as Percy Lapid — and of Jun Villamor, the convict who supposedly acted as a middle man for Mabasa's murder.
"In this case, there was a grand conspiracy to kill [Mabasa and Villamor]," Bantag said in his complaint. "As will be shown, the conspirators are the respondents."
Bantag claimed that Mabasa had criticized Remulla on his program in July 2020 and on September 29, 2022.
"It was because of these that Remulla was hurt and upset," Bantag said. "This is the motive in ordering the killing of Percy Lapid."
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Bantag claims conspiracy
Included as respondents in Bantag's complaint are German Agojo, Alfie Penaredondo, Aldrin Galicia, Mario Alvarez and Alvin Labra, who are in government custody.
Galicia and Alvarez of the Sputnik gang and Labra of Batang City Jail are included in a list of people whom the Department of Justice believes were involved in the killing of Villamor, who was found to have died at the New Bilibid Prison.
Bantag said that the investigation into the killings was stopped after police and the National Bureau of Investigation obtained statements from Galicia, Alvarez, Labra and Pendaronda and that the agencies "concluded to file the case" against him and others.
"Secretary Remulla prematurely stopped the investigation purposely to shield his name from coming out in the investigation," Bantag claimed in his complaint without offering proof.
Bantag further claimed that Remulla had ordered Agojo to look for people to kill Mabasa, prompting him to tap Villamor to arrange for confessed gunman Joel Escorial to murder the veteran broadcaster.
The former corrections chief meanwhile raise doubts on whether Villamor was murdered, citing initial findings by the NBI that he had died of natural causes. The findings have since been contradicted by an autopsy conducted by forensics expert Dr. Raquel Fortun, whose services Bantag claimed Remulla had engaged to "destroy the credibility of the NBI forensics experts who had already conducted the autopsy."
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Bantag said that if Villamor had indeed been murdered, "it must have been done upon the orders of German Agojo, who is the boss of Galicia" as he again linked Remulla to the death.
Apart from the murder raps, Bantag has also filed administrative complaints of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and conduct unbecoming of a public official against Remulla and Catapang.
He is also asking the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct an in-depth investigation into the case.
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