The Philippine National Police (PNP) released on Monday, Oct. 10 an updated photo of one of the alleged assassins of veteran broadcast journalist Percival Mabasa in an apparent bid to elicit more information from the public that would help solve the killing.
This developed as the reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of the killers of Mabasa, also known as Percy Lapid, rose to P6.5 million after House Speaker Martin Romualdez offered P5 million.
Businessman Alex Lopez earlier offered P1 million while Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said he is willing to shell out P500,000 from his personal money to help solve the case.
The released photo, which is more clear than the previous one released by the police, was extracted from CCTV footage in the areas where Mabasa had passed by before he was attacked in front of the gate of a subdivision in Las Piñas City on Oct. 3.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. said the investigation is still ongoing with the police probers looking into all the possible motives, including Mabasa's being a hard-hitting broadcast journalist.
"We are reviewing all the information that we receive and we are exerting all the efforts to get as many pieces of evidence to help solve the case," said Azurin.
"In this way, we would be able to ensure that those who would be arrested are indeed the responsible," he added.
Both Abalos and Metro Manila police chief Police Brig. gen. Jonnel Estomo urged the man in the photo to surrender before those who may have hired him do something bad to him and his family.
Estomo, for his part, warned that those who have a direct hand in the assassination may end up dead if they continue to play hide and seek with the police.