VETERAN broadcaster Percival Mabasa, more popularly known as Percy Lapid, was shot dead Monday night in an ambush in Talon Dos, Las Piñas City, police said.
His family, in a statement yesterday, called his killing a “deplorable crime” and demanded “his cowardly assassins be brought to justice.”
They said Lapid’s “sharp commentaries cut through the barrage of fake news over the air waves and on social media.”
Malacañang said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed concern about the killing and ordered Malacañang officials to look into how the investigation is ongoing.
This as various sectors condemned the killing and called for justice for Lapid. Media groups and activists demanded protection and described the assassination as a blow to press freedom.
“That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
Lapid’s killing followed the fatal stabbing of broadcaster Rey Blanco in Negros Oriental last month.
Rights group Karapatan described Lapid as “one of the country’s fiercest truth-tellers.”
The PNP formed special investigation task force to be led by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) as it vowed justice for Lapid who hosted the show “Lapid Fire” on radio station DWBL 1242AM.
Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos condemned the killing and vowed to deliver justice to the family.
“We guarantee the Lapid family that the government does not turn a blind eye to this heinous act,” he said.
A report of the Las Piñas police said Lapid, 63, was ambushed by two men on board a motorcycle and a white Toyota Fortuner at the gate of BF Resort Village at around 8:30 p.m. Lapid was driving his black Toyota Innova.
The police said initial investigation showed the suspect aboard the Fortuner, “without apparent reason, bumped the rear portion of victim’s vehicle while the other suspect on board a motorcycle shot the victim and fled to unknown destination.”
Lapid was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police investigators led by Maj. Gerald Villar recovered two shells of unknown caliber from the crime scene.
“We are not discounting the possibility that the shooting could be related to the victim’s work in media,” Las Piñas police Col. Jaime Santos said in a statement.
CRITIC
A former broadcaster of radio station DWIZ, Lapid was a known critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
He was the older brother of former National Press Club president and former Manila Bulletin reporter Roy Mabasa.
Videos on Lapid’s YouTube channel, which has 216,000 subscribers, showed he had been critical of the previous president and some policies and officials in incumbent Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s administration.
The NUJP said Lapid has also cited dangers of red-tagging and the recent harassment of Manila Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar who dismissed the government’s case to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist organizations.
“He had also commented on the security risks of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and on historical distortion of martial law,” the NUJP also said.
According to the NUJP, Lapid is the second journalist to be killed under the administration of Marcos Jr. after Blanco.
Last year, the Philippines kept its spot as the seventh worst country when it comes to unsolved killings of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The NUJP condemned the killing and called on law enforcement authorities to arrest and hold the perpetrators accountable for the incident.
Human rights group Amnesty International joined in the condemnation, as it said the killing “bears all the hallmarks of an extrajudicial execution and an attempt to silence voices critical of the government.”
“The killing of radio commentator Percy Lapid tragically demonstrates, once again, that the Philippines remain one of the most dangerous countries in Southeast Asia and globally for its failure to protect journalists and defend human rights and freedom of the press,” Amnesty said.
‘SENSELESS KILLING’
Brig. Gen. Roderick Alba, chief of the PNP public information office, said the formed a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) “to spearhead and coordinate the investigative and prosecutorial efforts of the PNP.”
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr ordered the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to help in the investigation, said CIDG director Brig. Gen. Ronald Lee.
He said Azurin wants investigators to hasten the probe and identify the perpetrators.
Alba said the PNP cannot yet make a conclusion as to whether Lapid’s killing was work-related.
“While his work as a radio commentator involves discussion of critical issues, we cannot fully conclude as of this time that the motive is work-related, but we are exploring all possible angles as of this time,” said Alba.
“We assure our media colleagues that the PNP prioritizes the security of those working in the media industry. The PNP media vanguards will directly oversee the course of investigation of this incident.,” Alba also said.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) condemned what it called the “senseless killing.”
“We at the Presidential Task Force denounce the murder of Percy Lapid and send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the victim. Rest assured that the PTFOMS will not rest until the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice. There is absolutely no justification for murder,” the PTFOMS.
It said it is coordinating with the PNP in the investigation of the incident.
“While it is still too early to establish the exact motive behind the incident, the PTFOMS will presume the killing to be work related as a matter of procedure so that the full might of the Presidential task force will be brought to bear against the perpetrators,” it said.
It reminded all media practitioners to report any incident of threat and harassment against them “so that the matter can be thoroughly and swiftly investigated.”
Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevara told the Malacañang Press Corps’ pool group the Office of the President “is concerned about what had happened to Percy Lapid.”
“In fact, we have been instructed to take a look at the conduct of the investigation on the ambush on him last night,” he also said.
He said the latest report the Palace received is that the Southern Police District has formed the PTFOMS which he said is expected to submit a report on the incident to the Office of the Executive Security “within the next seven days.”
CONDEMNATION
Former Vice President Leni Robredo was among those who condemned the broadcaster’s killing and demanded that justice be served quickly.
“Ka Percy’s killing must not be allowed to pass; justice must be served quickly and also to the other cases of killing of journalists,” Robredo said in Filipino on Twitter.
The Vice President, a staunch opponent of fake news peddlers, said “violence and intimidation have no place in truly free society.”
She expressed condolences to Lapid’s family.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT), a member of the Makabayan bloc, also condemned the killing, saying the culture of impunity in the country continues to worsen.
“Indeed, the culture of impunity is worsening in the country. We condemn this heinous act against Percy Lapid and we are calling for an impartial probe on the matter,” Castro said.
Castro said the incident is proof that justice “is reserved for the rich and that those who divulge the truly are being red-tagged and discredited to be attacked.”
She urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and Congress to investigate the incident “so that the systematic harassment and killing of administration critics will be brought to light.”
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros and Sen. Robin Padilla condemned the killing.
Hontiveros said it is “a brazen attack on press freedom” that also “demonstrates the inherent power of speech and truth telling.”
Padilla said “there is no place for crime in our midst.”
“Even as I offer my sincere sympathy to the family and loved ones of Percy, I call on our authorities to apprehend the perpetrators and solve this dastardly crime as soon as possible. I join our people’s calls for justice for Percy, and for the proper punishment against those behind this revolting incident,” he said.
The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (NAGKAISA) denounced the killing.
“The trade union movement condemns, in the strongest term, the killing of firebrand broadcaster Percival Mabasa,” it said.
“Assassination and any physical violence against journalists are crimes against society since this curtails freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the fundamental law,” it added. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Victor Reyes, Wendell Vigilia, Raymond Africa, Gerard Naval and Reuters
