THE Department of Justice has denied a motion filed by suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag seeking the inhibition of the prosecution panel conducting preliminary hearing on the murder of veteran radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said Bantag’s motion was denied for “lack of merit.”
With this development, the DOJ set the next preliminary hearing of the case on January 24.
Malcontento said they expect Bantag and the other respondents to submit their respective counter-affidavits during the hearing.
In seeking the inhibition of the prosecution panel, Bantag said the Office of the Ombudsman should be the one handling the case and not the DOJ since he is a Salary Grade 30 official. He also cited the “bad blood” between him and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, as he accused the latter of prejudging the case.
The DOJ, in junking Bantag’s plea, said his allegation of bias and partiality against the panel is based on the wrong premise as the justice secretary does not participate in the conduct of preliminary investigation or approves resolutions of the panel.
It said all resolutions in preliminary investigation cases are approved only by the prosecutor general, provincial prosecutor, or city prosecutor.
“Anent the alleged bias and partiality of the panel by reason of control and supervision exercised by the Secretary of Justice (SOJ) over the National Prosecution Service (NPS), the same is purely speculative, as control and supervision being exercised by the SOJ over the NPS does not extend to the conduct of preliminary investigation,” the panel said.
There is also nothing wrong with Remulla’s statement to the media, the panel said, with regard to the case against Bantag as such were inevitable considering that BuCor is an attached agency of the DOJ.
Furthermore, the panel said Bantag was wrong to argue that the case should be investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman, and not the DOJ, as the former has no exclusive jurisdiction over investigation and prosecution of cases involving public officers and employees before the regular courts.
“There is no basis under the law and existing jurisprudence that would directly support the conclusion of respondent Bantag that the power of the Ombudsman with respect to the offenses charged under Section 15(1) of Republic Act 6770, or the Ombudsman Act, is exclusive to it,” the panel said.
And while Bantag is a Salary Grade 30 official, the murder complaints against him do not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan, it said.
Bantag, former BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta, and several gang leaders of inmates in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) are facing two murder complaints for the killing of Lapid and Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor alias Jun Villamor.
Villamor was tagged by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial as the middleman in Lapid’s killing.
Bantag has said he wants an “independent and impartial tribunal” to handle the case and ask that it be transferred to the Ombudsman.
He argued then that since the prosecution panel is under the Remulla’s control and supervision, he cannot expect to be accorded an impartial probe.
Remulla has rejected the inhibition call, saying the DOJ is part of the executive branch and not the judiciary.
Lapid’s brother, Roy Mabasa also rejected the inhibition call, saying it will only delay the investigation of the case.
The prosecution panel is headed by Deputy State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas, with Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Josie Christina Dugay and Charlie Guhit as members.
