EDITORIAL - Mabasa case arrest raises questions

Police yesterday presented a man they held responsible for the killing of journalist Percival Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid, before the media.

According to police, Joel Estorial, 39, of Quezon City, voluntarily surrendered to them and executed an extrajudicial affidavit with the help of a lawyer. Estorial said he made the hit on Mabasa with three other men. Two of them he identified as Edmon Dimaculangan and Israel Dimaculangan, while the third was someone he only knew as “Orly”.

He said the hit was ordered from someone in the New Bilibid Prisons and that the group of six organized for the killing was paid ?550,000 in all. His cut, as the actual shooter, was ?140,000.

He said he decided to surrender to the police after being bothered by his conscience and asked forgiveness from the family of Mabasa as he also called on his fellow assailants to surrender themselves to the police.

We are glad that this case is moving, considering how many cases involving the murder of journalists are unsolved until now, but still we cannot help but think that the suspect just appeared out of nowhere all too suddenly, and too conveniently, and is not thinking twice about spilling his guts.

Even Roy Mabasa, Percy’s younger brother, himself expressed doubts that Estorial was the actual shooter saying the man he saw didn’t resemble the suspect. However, he added he was willing to give the police the benefit of the doubt.

Like Roy Mabasa we are also willing to give the police the benefit of the doubt. They are the professional investigators after all, not us.

But the police better make sure they have an airtight case. Suspects who have come out of nowhere have been known to later recant their confessions, especially when they come to grips with the consequences of their actions.

If this happens not only will the police be back to square one regarding this case; it will look like they have been made fools of, or worse --that they were quick to dredge up a fall guy to make it look like they solved the case quickly.