A LAS Piñas court has sentenced another inmate at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, to two to eight years imprisonment, for his role in the 2022 killing of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
Mabasa’s younger brother, Roy, said Judge Harold Huliganga of the that Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court found Denver Mayores guilty of being an accessory to the killing.
“He admitted to conspiring with Bantag and Zulueta into committing the murder,” Roy said in a Tweet on Monday, referring to former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and his deputy, Ricardo Zulueta, who authorities tagged as the alleged masterminds in the murder.
Bantag and Zulueta remain at large and are subject of manhunt operations.
The Department of Justice has offered a P2 million and P1 million reward, respectively, for information that will lead to the apprehension of Bantag and Zulueta.
State prosecutors have charged Mayores and several other Bilibid inmates as “principal by indispensable cooperation” in the killing of the radio broadcaster on the night of Oct. 3, 2022 in Las Piñas City.
Roy also said Mayores has asked the court to allow him to remain in detention at the National Bureau of Investigation for “security reasons.” He added the court has yet to rule on his request.
In June this year, three other Bilibid inmates pleaded to the lesser offense of accessory in the killing of Lapid. The three — Aldrin Galicia, Alvin Labra and Alfie Penaredonda- were sentenced to a prison term ranging from two to eight years.
Similar to Mayores, they were also charged as “principals by indispensable cooperation” in the case.
Plea bargaining means the accused will plead guilty to a lesser offense for a lesser penalty.
Murder under the Revised Penal Code is punishable with imprisonment of 20 to 40 years.
