FORMER Bureau of Corrections deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta has formally denied his role in the killing of veteran radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and of inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, alias Jun Villamor, who allegedly acted as a middleman in the case.
Zulueta’s denial was contained in a February 15, five-page counter-affidavit that his camp submitted to the panel of state prosecutors handling the preliminary investigation of the twin murder charges filed against him, former BuCor director general Gerald Bantag and several leaders of prison gangs in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
Zulueta’s camp did not file his counter-affidavit during the last hearing of the case before the Department of Justice on February 8, with his lawyer Lauro Gacayan saying they had just requested copies of supporting documents from the prosecution panel.
In the same counter-affidavit, Zulueta also denied he took an order from or was ordered by Bantag to commit any crime, much less the murders of Lapid and Villamor.
Zulueta and Bantag were tagged as masterminds in the twin killings, with authorities saying that Villamor was silenced to prevent him from spilling the beans on those behind Lapid’s murder in October last year.
“Director General Bantag never ordered me to commit or facilitate the commission of a crime on his behalf,” part of Zulueta’s counter-affidavit said.
He also denied the claim of one of the prison gang leaders, Aldrin Galicia, linking him to the crime. Galicia is also a respondent in the murder cases.
Galicia, in his sworn statement, said Zulueta summoned him and another prison gang leader, Alfie Penaredondo, in the second week of September last year when he supposedly informed them of orders from “tanda,” to kill Lapid.
“Tanda” is supposedly Bantag.
Zulueta said Galicia’s claim is false, adding that prosecutors should look at the CCTV footage taken on that day to show that he never summoned them to his office.
“This is false and it never happened,” he said, adding he also never called or describe Bantag to others as “tanda.”
He said he called Bantag “Sir DG” (Director General) or “Director.”
Bantag and Zulueta have known each other since their days at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Zulueta was with Bantag when he served as jail warden of several cities in Metro Manila and as regional official of the BJMP.
