The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) panel of prosecutors affirmed its ruling denying the motion to inhibit it from investigating the two murder complaints filed against suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Q. Bantag.
Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Charlie L. Guhit, a member of the panel, said that during the hearing held at the DOJ on Tuesday, Jan. 31, ”the Panel issued an order denying the motion for reconsideration filed by respondent Bantag.”
With the denial of his motion, Bantag was directed to submit his counter-affidavit on the two murder complaints on or before Feb. 8, the resumption of the preliminary investigation.
Bantag has been named as “principal by inducement” in the deaths of radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” C. Mabasa and inmate Cristito Villamor Palana who was named by self-confessed killer of the broadcaster as his “middleman.”
Guhit warned Bantag that “failure to submit counter-affidavits will constrain it (the panel) to submit the case for resolution, given the limited period for the conduct of preliminary investigation under the Rules of Court and Revised Manual for Prosecutors, 2017 Edition.”
Percy Lapid’s brother, veteran journalist Roy C. Mabasa, expressed hope that Bantag would no longer submit a counter-affidavit on Feb. 8.
“Hopefully, sa aming panig, sana’y hindi na sila sumagot para mas mabilis para sa amin at ito’y madesisyonan na rin ng panel kung meron pong probable cause doon po sa kaso (Hopefully, on our side, Bantag would no longer file a counter-affidavit so that the panel will be able to swiftly decide whether there is probable cause to file murder charges in court),” Roy said.
The denied motion for reconsideration was filed by Bantag’s legal counsel, lawyer Rocky Thomas Balisong, before the panel last Jan. 24.
It sought to overturn the Jan. 17 order of the panel that denied Bantag’s motion to have the DOJ prosecutors inhibited from conducting the preliminary investigation of the murder complaints against him.
Balisong insisted that the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has jurisdiction to conduct the preliminary investigation of the complaints.
Aside from the murder complaints, Bantag is also facing before the DOJ two sets of torture complaints filed separately by two Bilibid inmates and five prison guards of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF).
He also has an administrative case that led to his second 90-day preventive suspension as BuCor director general.
TAGS: #Percy Lapid #Bantag #DOJ #BuCor