ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Dela Rosa: No reason for Duterte to have Percy Lapid killed

Dela Rosa: No reason for Duterte to have Percy Lapid killed

Published Nov 8, 2022 05:14 pm

Former president Rodrigo Duterte has no reason to have broadcast journalist Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa killed, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said on Tuesday, November 8.

Dela Rosa, an ally of the former Duterte administration, said he finds it illogical that the former leader would have any motive of having Lapid killed since he is already a private citizen.

The family of the slain broadcaster has said they wanted to make sure that there are no more personalities “higher” than former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag, who was tagged as one of the masterminds in the killing of Lapid and Cristito Palaña, an inmate inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP), who could be behind the murder.

But as far as he is concerned, the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief said he sees no motive on the part of the former president to kill Lapid even if he was also a target of the veteran journalist’s scathing and fiery commentaries.

“Bakit pa niya papatayin? Nag-retire ka na, hindi ka na presidente, bakit hindi mo pinatay nung ikaw ay presidente pa (Why would he kill him? You have already retired, you’re no longer a president, so why didn’t you have him killed while you were still president?),” Dela Rosa elaborated during a press briefing at the Senate.

“Ngayon pa? Na wala ka na sa poder? Saka ka pa nag ka interes sa tao (Now that you are no longer in power, you suddenly have an interest on killing the man)?” he asked.

“So the motive is malayo (So the motive is vague),” he pointed out.

“Pabayaan natin ang nag-iimbestiga. Mahirap kasi marami nagmamarunong, marami nagkukunwari na may alam, gusto isaksak sa imbestigasyon. Hanggang daldal lang naman. Mag conduct kayo ng imbestigasyon kung gusto niyo, pero respetuhin nyo ang PNP at NBI investigation (Let's leave it to those who are doing the investigation. It's difficult because there are many people pretend to know, want some people to be included in the investigation. It's just chatter. Conduct an investigation if you want, but respect the PNP and NBI’s investigation),” the senator added.

Dela Rosa further said the PNP should not be dictated on how they should go about their own probe.

But the PNP can still pursue their investigation if they believe there are other personalities beyond Bantag who may be involved in the double murder case, he said.

“In fairness naman, if that is the outcome of the (PNP) investigation, we have to respect it,” he said.

“Nagulat ako talaga. Paanong hindi ka magulat kung ganun ang findings ng PNP, nakakagulat talaga. Nagulat ako na sya ang itinalaga na director ng BuCor, di ko siya (Bantag) kilala...wala kaming personal na relationship or whatever (I was really surprised. How can you not be surprised if the findings of the PNP are like that? It's really surprising. I was surprised that he was the appointed director of BuCor, I don't know him (Bantag)...we don't have a personal relationship or whatever),” the lawmaker added.

Related Tags

percy lapid bato dela rosa Rodrigo Duterte Gerald Bantag
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.