Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said additional criminal complaints are expected to be filed on Monday, Nov. 7, against those involved in the killing of radio commentator Percival C. Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid.
In an interview on Friday morning, Nov. 4, Remulla said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are also expected to file on Monday cases against suspects in the death of Jun Globa Villamor, a detainee who was named “middleman” in the Percy Lapid killing.
Remulla said the NBI and the PNP are coordinating on charges they would file in the two death cases.
“There are two or three people that we still want to talk to just to be thorough about everything,” Remulla disclosed. While Remulla described the three persons as “very high in the chain in the Percy Lapid case,” he did not disclose their identities.
“Let the NBI and the PNP name the people that they want to charge before the courts. My job is to make sure the process work,” he said.
A murder complaint has been filed by the PNP before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against self-confessed gunman Joel S. Escorial. The DOJ decided to conduct preliminary investigation as far as Escorial’s co-respondents – brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, and a person identified only as “Orly” or “Orlando” – are concerned. The three co-respondents have neither surrendered nor arrested.
The preliminary investigation is expected to resume today, Nov. 4.
Several “persons of interest” in the Percy Lapid killing and in Villamor’s death are now in the custody of both the NBI and the PNP.
Escorial confessed that he shot Percy Lapid three times last Oct. 3.
In the case of Villamor, an opinion issued by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel B. Del Rosario-Fortun stated that “based on available information regarding the circumstances surrounding the death the manner is homicide.”
Fortun also said: “There is information that he (Villamor) expressed fear for his life shortly before his demise and that he died from suffocation by means of a plastic bag over his head.”
“The autopsy findings showed no gross morphologic cause of death and this is consistent with the reported asphyxia,” the also said.
TAGS: #DOJ #Remulla #Percy Lapid