BY PETER TABINGO and ASHZEL HACHERO
SUSPENDED Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag has filed a complaint for murder and administrative offenses against Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, acting BuCor director general Gregorio Catapang Jr, and five persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Bantag, who is being implicated in the killing of broadcast journalist Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa on Oct. 3, 2022, said he he is being used as a scapegoat and named Remulla as the person behind the murder case.
Aside from Catapang, also named Remullla’s co-respondents were German Agojo, Alfie Peñaredondo, Aldrin Galicia, Mario Alvarez, and Alvin Labra, all PDLs who are serving sentences for various crimes.
Agojo was previously held at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) while the rest were incarcerated at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP).
Remulla called Bantag’s move a “desperate act of a desperate person” and said the move will not affect the cases against Bantag for the killing of Mabasa and NBP Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor alias Jun Villamor. The cases are being heard by the DOJ.
Villamor was tagged by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial as the middleman in Lapid’s murder.
Bantag previously said Escorial and Villamor are henchmen of Agojo.
Remulla said it is Bantag’s right to sue.
“He is trying to exhaust all possible remedies, which is to go against me personally, but it will not change anything,” Remulla said.
“The cases will continue. Our job is to prosecute people. The DOJ is primarily the prosecutorial arm of the government and nobody else will do it, except us,” he added.
Bantag said by working under direction from Remulla, Catapang may be held liable for conspiracy.
Other than the criminal complaint, he also asked the Ombudsman to look into the actions of the two public officials for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and conduct unbecoming of a public official.
In the complaint, Bantag said he is staying in Baguio City but could not reveal his exact address for security reasons. However, he designated his counsel Rocky Thomas Balisong to receive orders, processes and other notices from the Ombudsman.
Aside from the slaying of Lapid, he also linked Remulla to the killing of Villamor.
Bantag said like him, Lapid had also aired hard-hitting commentaries against Remulla in his program on July 3, 2020 and on Sept. 29, 2022. He noted that Remulla was tagged in the broadcast as a protector of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). He claimed Remulla had a motive to eliminate Lapid to preserve his name as a politician.
Bantag also questioned the DOJ chief’s order for the transfer of detention for the PDLs, saying if the sole reason was to obtain their statements as part of an ongoing investigation, they could have given them while remaining at the ISAFP detention or at the NBP.
Pending the outcome of its investigation, Bantag asked the Ombudsman to place both Remulla and Catapang under preventive suspension “to restrain and prevent them from interfering and exerting undue pressure and influence on possible witnesses and the investigators.”
