SUSPENDED Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag yesterday said he will not surrender even if an arrest warrant is issued by a court against him over his alleged role in the killing of veteran radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa as long as Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla remains in his post.
Bantag said he will cooperate in the ongoing investigation on the case but will not submit himself to be under government custody.
“Definitely, haharapin ko ito kasama ng aking mga supporters pero kung hindi tumalima si Boying na mag-step down ay hindi ako susuko kung may warrant ako (Definitely, I will face the charges with my supporters but if Boying will not step down, I will not surrender even if there is a warrant),” Bantag told CNN Philippines Monday, referring to Remulla.
“Eh di niluto na naman nila ako. Pero pag wala si Boying, susuko ako kung may warrant.
Hanggang andiyan si Boying di ako pwedeng lilitaw, loko loko ‘yan eh pinaikot niya lang ako eh (I will not allow myself to be hoodwinked again but if Boying is not there, I will surrender if a warrant is issued. As long as Boying is there, I will not come out, he manipulated me),” Bantag added.
Bantag, along with BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta and several prisoners at the New Bilibid Prison, are facing murder charges before the DOJ for the October 3 killing of Lapid and inmate Cristito Panala Villamor, alias Jun Villamor, who was tagged by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial as the middleman who contracted him for Lapid’s assassination.
PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. urged Bantag to answer the murder charges filed against him before the court, and not through media.
Azurin made the statement after Bantag, who has denied involvement in the killing of Mabasa, implied that convicted drug lord German Agojo ordered Lapid’s killing.
Bantag has said that Escorial and Villamor were working for Agojo.
“On the statement of (suspected Bucor) director general Bantag… I think it’s better if we talk about it in court and not in the social media,” said Azurin, stressing that the murder charges against Bantag and his supposed cohorts were based on evidence and statements of witnesses.
“It would be better if he answers the charges in court,” the PNP chief said, adding that it’s “not healthy” if authorities and Bantag will exchange accusations in the media.
“Second, we have already filed charges so everything that we’ll say is sub judice. We already completed the investigation so let’s wait for the court proceedings,” said Azurin.
Bantag earlier said he would rather die than be jailed for a crime he did not commit.
He accused Remulla of being a master manipulator and alleged that he had made it appear that he wanted to cling to his post as BuCor chief when as early as August, he already had information that the latter wanted him replaced with retired Armed Forces chief Pio Gregorio Catapang Jr.
Catapang took over Bantag’s post last month after the latter was placed on a 90-day suspension to pave the way for an impartial probe on the mysterious death of Villamor inside the national penitentiary after he was tagged by Escorial.
“Masama ang loob ko, pinasakay lang ako ni Boying. Kinukuha ba nya ang loob ko parehas daw kami, maganda pinapakita nya. Kumbaga he manipulated me tulad ng isang magaling na pulitiko eh (I am mad because Boying hoodwinked me. He manipulated me like a true politician that he is),” he said.
Last Friday, Bantag accused Remulla of being a liar, a drug user, protector of drug lords and a disgrace to the DOJ.
Instead of giving in to Remulla’s challenge for him to man up and face the murder complaints, Bantag called on Remulla to step down, saying he no longer has any credibility or moral ascendancy after his son, Juanito Jose III, was arrested by anti-drug operatives last month in Las Piñas City with P1.3 million worth of “kush” or high-grade marijuana.
He said then that by pinning him as the mastermind of the Lapid and Villamor murders, the DOJ chief was using his position to gain more prominence to advance his political plans to run for a higher post in the 2025 midterm elections, as well as to divert public attention away from his son’s drug cases.
Remulla, who is in Geneva, Switzerland to attend another human rights session, has yet to directly answer Bantag’s accusation though a statement last Friday read by DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said investigators from the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation used the “method of deduction” in reaching the conclusion that Bantag was behind the murders of Lapid and Villamor.
Bantag has already denied any knowledge or involvement in the killings.
DOJ PROBE
The DOJ has formed a three-member panel of prosecutors, headed by Deputy State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas, to handle the consolidated cases against Bantag’s group and that of the earlier murder complaint against Escorial, Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan and one alias Orly or Orlando.
The preliminary investigation on the consolidated murder cases is set on November 23.
Another hearing is set on December 5, according to Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
But Clavano said the DOJ has yet to serve a subpoena to Bantag, Zulueta and the other respondents.
“As of today, di pa nari-release ‘yung subpoena pero the plan is to give out the subpoena today, and hopefully, masi-serve ‘yun sa mga last known addresses ng mga respondents natin (As of today, the subpoena has yet to be released but the plan is to give out the subpoena today, and hopefully, it will be served on the last known addresses of the respondents),” Clavano told reporters in an ambush interview.
As to how it will be served, Clavano said the DOJ has an accredited courier to do that.
“I think that as soon as the subpoena is released, it serves as a notice already to the whole world na it is there,” he said, adding that “as per the law and as per the rules, it’s the last known address that needs to be served.”
If Bantag and the other respondents will waive their right to file a counter-affidavit, Clavano said the DOJ will resolve the complaints on the basis of the complaints-affidavit filed.
Malcontento earlier said subpoenas for Bantag and the other respondents have been signed, though the Office of the Prosecutor General has yet to release it.
NO DIRECT LINK
Bantag said an NBI official has allegedly told one of his men that there is no direct evidence linking him to the Lapid and Villamor killing.
“Nakausap nung taga NBI ang isang prominenteng tao ko at sinabi nga na walang direct link sa akin. Eh utos daw ng mas mataas sa kanila na idawit ako eh anong magagawa mo kapag mas mataas ang nag utos sayo di ba? (An NBI official told one of my men that there is no direct link to me. But allegedly the order to link me came from someone higher than them, so what can they do when the orders come from above you?),” Bantag said.
He declined to disclose the identity of the NBI official, saying he would only do so in the “proper forum.”
At the same time, he reiterated that drug syndicates operating in the NBP are behind his ouster, adding that from day one of his appointment to the post in 2019, they have already planned on getting rid of him.
“Lahat ng mga sindikato galit sa akin diyan. ‘Yun ang nakikita ko, ‘yun ang idea ko at opinyon ko ang matanggal ako sa puwesto,” he said.
Bantag also repeated his claim last Friday that the alleged mastermind in the killing of Lapid is Agojo. He, however, continued to decline to provide additional details, including Agojo’s possible motive in killing Lapid.
NO MORE TALKS WITH MABASA FAMILY
In the same interview, Bantag said he is no longer willing to sit down with the family of the slain radio commentator to explain his side, adding he would rather do it in the proper forum.
“Hindi. Sa proper forum na lang. ‘Yun naman ang gusto nila, sa proper forum. ‘Yun lang naman sana ang gusto ko sabihin na in good faith, wala akong alam diyan kaso naka-program na din ata sila dahil kay Boying (No. I would rather talk in the proper forum.
Actually, that’s what I would like to tell them in good faith that I have nothing to do with the case, but it seems they are already programmed to believe otherwise because of Boying),” he said.
Earlier, Roy Mabasa, Lapid’s brother, said he has no problem meeting with Bantag face-to-face on the condition that he tells the truth about his involvement in his brother’s killing.
Mabasa said he was told by a friend that Bantag wants to talk with them and to perform a ritual at his brother’s grave to show that he is not guilty of the crime.
Bantag hails from one of the tribes in the Cordilleras.
The Lapid family earlier asked the DOJ to continue its probe despite the filing of murder charges against Bantag, saying they believed there could be a more influential person beyond the suspended BuCor chief who is involved in the murders.
MISSING ZULUETA
Bantag also said he does not know the whereabouts of Zulueta, whom he said he saw last a day after he was suspended last month as BuCor chief.
“A day after akong ma-suspend nag-meeting kami sa Directors Quarters and that’s the last time. Di ko na sya nakakausap kahit sa telepono (A day after I was suspended, we had a meeting at the Director’s Quarters and that’s the last time. I also haven’t talked to him even on the telephone),” Bantag said.
He said he also had no communication since that day with other Bureau of Jail Management and Penology personnel he had brought with to the BuCor as they were removed on the orders of Catapang.
He said the BJMP men were directed to report to their mother units.
At the same time, Bantag said he knew Zulueta enough to know that he could not be behind the accusations leveled against him.
The DOJ earlier said it was Zulueta who allegedly relayed Bantag’s order to kill Lapid and subsequently Villamor to cover up the murder.
“Kilala ko si Zulueta di niya ‘yun magagawa,” he said, adding that Zulueta had been with him since their BJMP days.
Bantag also denied he was close to inmate Denver Mayores whom the DOJ also charged in the Lapid and Villamor killings.
The DOJ has said that Mayores is a “trusted aide” of Bantag.
But the suspended BuCor chief said he even got Mayores transferred from the NBP to Iwahig penal colony in Palawan as he was angry at him.
“Galit ako diyan kay Mayores pinatapon ko pa nga ‘yan sa Palawan,” he said. — With Victor Reyes
