THE brother of slain veteran radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid’ Mabasa yesterday said the Department of Justice is close to identifying the mastermind of the October 3 killing.
Roy Mabasa also said a major development in the slay investigation will be announced by the authorities in the next three days.
Mabasa said the names of those possibly behind his brother’s killing were disclosed yesterday during a case conference he attended with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo de Lemos. But Mabasa said he is not making public the names and will instead let authorities make the announcement.
“Sa palagay ko nalalapit na tayo roon sapagkat yung sa aming pag-uusap kanina, mukhang may tinutumbok subalit I am not at liberty to say kung ano iyong mga pangalan o pagkakakilanlan (I think we’re near that because, in our talks, it appears they are heading toward identifying the masterminds but I’m not at liberty to disclose their names or their identities),” he said.
“Let’s let the DOJ finish its work, together with the NBI and the PNP, and there will be an announcement in the next one, two or three days,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
Remulla on Saturday they were looking at two possible masterminds.
Mabasa also said their family is satisfied with the ongoing investigation but added he will reserve his comments until later this week. He also said despite threats, their family has ruled out inclusion in the government’s Witness Protection Program, adding it will limit their movement. But he said they have agreed to having added security.
Remulla late yesterday said murder charges will be filed before the DOJ on “Saturday or Monday” against those Lapid’s killing and that of Jun Villamor, an inmate of the National Bilibid Prison tagged as middleman by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial.
Murder complaints have been filed against Escorial and his cohorts Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan and one alias Orly or Orlando. The Dimaculangans and Orly/Orlando remain at large.
“There will be a new case filed. The Villamor case,” Remulla said.
Earlier yesterday, Remulla was asked if the mastermind has been identified. He said it was “very possible,” adding that four persons of interest have given revealing information through their affidavits to investigators seeking to unmask the mastermind in Lapid’s killing.
Asked if suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag is involved in the killing, Mabasa just like what the PNP previously said, the latter is among the 160 persons of interest being looked at by investigators.
“Hindi naman tayo magtataka sapagkat iyong mga nangyayari sa loob ng Bilibid ay sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni General Bantag (I will not be surprised because all that happened inside the Bilibid took place under General Bantag’s leadership),” he said.
Bantag has been placed under 90-day preventive suspension following Villamor’s death. He has denied involvement in the killing of Lapid, and blamed drug lords for his predicament.
An independent autopsy performed by top forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun on Villamor’s body showed the manner of his death is homicide. He died hours after Escorial said someone from Bilibid acted as an intermediary in the killing. The findings released last Saturday contradict the statement of the BuCor on October 21 that the lack of external injuries on Villamor’s body indicates he died a natural death.
Fortun’s finding is more conclusive than the NBI autopsy which did not give a specific cause of Villamor’s death. The NBI also said it did not find external physical injury on the body.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said police investigators will submit additional evidence to the DOJ on Friday during the second preliminary investigation of the case.
Fajardo said the documents deal with one of the middleman, Jun Villamor, also known as Cristito Villamor Palaña, who died inside the National Bilibid Prison on October 18, the same day Escorial was presented to media. — With Victor Reyes
