THE Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court has ordered the archiving of a murder case against former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag in connection with the 2022 killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa, until he is found by authorities.
Mabasa’s younger brother, Roy Mabasa, said Las Piñas RTC Branch 254 Presiding Judge Cesar Huliganga ordered the archiving of the case on Monday, June 30, “citing stalled progress and the continued absence of the key accused.”
“Judge Cesar Huliganga ruled that proceedings against former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Quitaleg Bantag and former deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta be shelved,” Mabasa said in a post on his social media account.
“The decision came after Zulueta’s family repeatedly refused to allow DNA testing on remains believed to be his, hindering the confirmation of his identity,” he added.
The PNP has said Zulueta died in March 2024 in Bataan. It said he succumbed to “cerebrovascular disease intracranial hemorrhage.”
In the case of Bantag, the court, according to Mabasa, said the case would be reopened only “once the former prison chief resurfaces and surrenders to authorities.”
Bantag remains the subject of a nationwide manhunt with a P2-million bounty on his head. He is accused of masterminding the killing of Lapid and Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor alias Jun Villamor who, authorities said, acted as middleman and contacted the gunman to do the hit on Lapid.
Villamor was killed inside the national penitentiary in what Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said was meant to prevent him from spilling the beans on the mastermind in Lapid’s murder.
Earlier, PNP Chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III said tracker teams have information on Bantag’s whereabouts and are just waiting for an opportunity to apprehend him.
