Former Philippine prisons chief charged with murder of famous journalist

 The Philippine Department of Justice said it had indicted the former head of the Bureau of Corrections, Gerald Bantag, for allegedly “organising” the murder of Percival Mabasa, a prominent journalist.

Mabasa was better known in the country under the pseudonym Percy Lapid. 

Bantag is charged with ordering the assassination of Mabasa after the latter left online comments that appeared to attribute bribery to the Bureau of Corrections head.

Moreover, Bantag is charged with ordering the assassination of prison inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, whom he allegedly used to give the order for the assassination of Mabasa to a killer. 

“On the part of respondent Bantag, sufficient circumstantial pieces of evidence have been presented to establish that he masterminded the assassination (of Mabasa),” the justice department said on Tuesday, as reported by Philippine newspaper Malaya.

The authorities specified that ten other suspects in the case would also be charged with the murders of Mabasa and Villamor.

Those include Bantag’s former deputy, Ricardo Zulueta, and shooter Joel Escorial, who has already admitted to killing the journalist. 

In October 2022, Mabasa, who had long been criticizing the country’s authorities, was shot dead outside his house in the city of Las Pinas.

Later that month, Villamor, the alleged middleman in the murder of the radio commentator, also died in prison under strange circumstances.

Shortly after, Bantag was suspended as the chief of the Bureau of Corrections and summoned to a court to give testimony.

Bantag has denied the allegations of ordering Mabasa and Villamor’s killings.

(NAN)