Percy Lapid slay self-confessed gunman gets up to 16 years jail time

MANILA, Philippines — Las Piñas Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 254 has sentenced self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial up to 16 years imprisonment over the killing of the late broadcaster Percy Lapid, his brother Roy Mabasa said.

Escorial, who claimed that the order to kill Lapid came inside the New Billibid Prison, will face eight to 16 years of imprisonment, according to Mabasa. 

“Joel Escorial, who admitted to being the gunman in the case involving Percival Mabasa, also known as “Percy Lapid,” received a sentence of eight years and eight months to 16 years imprisonment from Judge Cesar Huliganga in Las Piñas,” Mabasa wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). 

This has also been confirmed by Danny Pelagio, the lawyer of Mabasa.

In August last year, Escorial asked the court to allow him to enter into plea bargaining for the lesser offense of homicide from murder.

It can be recalled that the gunman surrendered himself to the authorities, days after the shooting of Lapid where he also implicated former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag. 

Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, was gunned down on his way home in Las Piñas City on Oct. 3, 2022.

In April 2023, arrest warrants for Bantag and Ricardo Zulueta, former BuCor deputy security officer, who are alleged to be the orchestrators of the killing, were issued by the court.

Zulueta, however, passed away last March 15 due to heart failure.

The Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation previously offered P2 million and P1 million rewards for those who can provide information on Bantag and Zulueta's (before he died) whereabouts, respectively.