JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to contact the family of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta, who remains missing following the filing of murder charges in relation to his role in the killings of veteran radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, alias Jun Villamor.
“I am asking the NBI to contact his family so that they can know his whereabouts,” Remulla told reporters when asked if there are efforts by the NBI and the Philippine National Police to locate Zulueta.
The interview was made on the sidelines of the release of 234 New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates in Muntinlupa City.
Zulueta has been tagged as one of the alleged masterminds in the killing of Lapid and Villamor.
Affidavits submitted to the DOJ indicate that it was Zulueta who allegedly relayed the order of suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag to kill Lapid and Villamor.
Zulueta went into hiding early this month days before the murder complaints were filed.
Zulueta and Bantag also did not attend the preliminary investigation of the complaints last Wednesday before the Department of Justice.
Zulueta, according to Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Charlie Guhit, did not even bother to send a lawyer to represent him in the preliminary investigation.
Bantag earlier said the last time he saw his deputy was a day after he was suspended by Remulla last October when they held a meeting to discuss the situation.
Since then, he said, he has not communicated with Zulueta.
Remulla said the murder cases against Bantag will not be affected despite the absence of Zulueta.
“It will not affect the case if Zulueta surrenders or not. I just hope Zulueta still appears because he is a co-conspirator. His role is important but if he does not appear or if something happens, what can we do? Justice cannot halt, it has to continue,” Remulla earlier said.
The DOJ chief said he is confident of the prosecution’s case against Bantag even if he previously acknowledged that it rests on the totality of the evidence and not on his alleged direct link to the murders.
“A conspiracy is a conspiracy and the act of one is the act of all,” he added.
