MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors will be filing a new case against suspended corrections chief Gerald Bantag, this time for allegedly pressuring and threatening prison officers to deny that a shootout took place inside Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan in 2020.
In a resolution dated May 11, the DOJ indicted Bantag and former Bureau of Corrections spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag after it found that they “unlawfully coerced, through violence, threats, and intimidation” prison officials into signing a document denying a shooting incident took place on March 1, 2020.
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The corrections officers who filed the complaint were Lazaro Rafols Jr., Jer Sahid Mojado, Eddie Jimenez, Richie Canja, Roy Gacasa, and Asher Labrador.
Prosecutors also found enough basis to charge Bantag and Chaclag for unlawfully forcing the officers to withdraw their criminal complaint against the prisons chief's men over the incident at Ihawig.
“Bantag and Chaclag, even if they were then the superior officers of complainants, had no authority or any right to prevent Canja from filing a criminal case against those involved,” the DOJ resolution read.
“As a result, Bantag and Chaclag should be held liable for the crime of grave coercion,” it noted.
Bantag is expected to face these cases on top of the murder case that has been filed against him over the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid and inmate Jun Villamor, alleged middleman in the crime. He is the subject of two warrants of arrest from a Las Piñas court and a Muntinlupa court over these, but authorities have yet to find him.
DOJ prosecutors will also be filing criminal charges against Bantag for being behind the torture of inmates at the New Bilibod Prison in 2022. — Cristina Chi with reports by Kristine Joy Patag