Suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Q. Bantag has filed before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) murder and administrative complaints against Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, BuCor Acting Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr., and several others for the deaths of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” C. Mabasa and inmate Jun Globa Villamor, later identified as Cristito Villamor Palana.
Bantag’s complaints were filed through his lawyer Rocky Thomas A. Balisong. Based on a copy given to journalists, the complaint was received by the OMB at 4:40 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2023.
Aside from murder, Remulla and Catapang were also charged with grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and conduct unbecoming of a public official.
Also named respondents in the complaint were persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) German Agojo, Alfie Penaredondo, Aldrin Galicia, Mario Alvarez, and Alvin Labra.
Bantag claimed that Remulla has been the subject of criticisms in the radio program of Percy Lapid.
“It was because of these that Remulla was hurt and upset. This is his motive in ordering the killing of Percy Lapid,” Bantag alleged.
Percy Lapid was gunned down last Oct. 3, 2022 in Las Pinas City. Joel S. Escorial had confessed to killing the radio broadcaster and named Palana as his “middleman.” He also identified his alleged accomplices in the killing.
In his complaint, Bantag asked the OMB to “conduct an investigation on the allegations in this complaint and to determine the participation of the respondents in the murder of Percy Lapid and Jun Villamor y Globa and to file the information of two (2) counts of murder against them before the proper courts.”
He also pleaded the OMB to “file administrative cases of Grave Misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and conduct unbecoming of a public official against SEC. JESUS CRISPIN C. REMULLA and ACTING DIRECTOR GENERAL GREGORIO PIO CATAPANG, JR.”
“Complainant invokes the power of the Ombudsman under Section 15, Republic Act 6770 to conduct an in-depth investigation and to determine the participation and criminal and administrative liabilities of Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr., PDLs German Agojo, Alfie Penaredondo, Aldrin Galicia, Mario Alvarez, and Alvin Labra,” he said.
At the same time, Bantag said that both Remulla and Catapang “should be immediately placed under PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION in order to prevent them from using their respective positions to exert undue influence or pressure on the possible witnesses and the possible tampering of evidence that may come from their respective offices in the course of the investigation.”
Bantag said: “In several episodes of his radio program ‘Lapid Fire,’ Percy Lapid hit and attacked Secretary Remulla. In his July 3, 2020 episode, Percy Lapid hit Secretary Remulla by calling him Bonjing and other insulting and damaging descriptions,”
“On September 29, 2022 just FOUR (4) days before Percy Lapid was killed, he hit and attacked Secretary Remulla in his ‘Lapid Fire’ radio program. Percy Lapid described Sec. Remulla as a person who will destroy the image of President Ferdinand Marcos and that President Marcos should know this. Further stating that Secretary Remulla is the one who had been defending POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) and Sec. Remulla is not ashamed to defend POGO when the people know that he has a business in same,” he added.
Following the murder of Mabasa on Oct. 3, Bantag said that both Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced that “there are 160 persons of interest in connection with the death of Percy Lapid to which they are looking into.”
“After obtaining all the statements of the PDLs, the PNP and the NBI upon the orders of Secretary Remulla and Secretary Abalos (Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr.) prematurely stopped the investigation and concluded to file the case against the complainant (Bantag) and several others. While there are 160 persons of interest in the killing of Percy Lapid, the two (2) secretaries, the PNP and the NBI opted to stop the investigation and filed the charges with the Department of Justice,” he said.
Bantag was referring to the two murder complaints filed against him before the DOJ on Nov. 7, 2022 for the deaths of Percy Lapid and Palana. The complaints are under preliminary investigation by a panel of DOJ prosecutors.
Except for Agojo, also named respondents in the two murder complaints were BuCor Deputy Security Officer Ricardo S. Zulueta and PDLs Penaredondo, Galicia, Alvarez, and Labra.
Bantag said that prior to the filing of the murder complaints against him, Remulla ordered the transfer of Agojo from the detention facility of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to the NBI.
He said Remulla also ordered the transfer of the other four PDLs to the NBI from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
“Acting on the illegal order of Secretary Remulla, Acting Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. caused the immediate transfer of the aforementioned PDLs to the NBI confinement facilities. The PDLs are still at the said facilities of the NBI except for German Agojo whose whereabouts is only known to Secretary Remulla,” Bantag said.
“While the NBI and the PNP were able to obtain the statements from the PDLs Galicia, Alvarez, Labra, and Penaredondo, there was no statement taken from German Agojo y Luna,” he added.
TAGS: #Remulla #Catapang #Bantag #Percy Lapid