News Roundup 07 November 2022
Nov 07, 2022 • 6 min Read
Raps filed vs suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag over killing of Percy Lapid | PHILSTAR.COM – The National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police have filed complaints naming Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag, currently serving preventive suspension, among the respondents behind the murder of radioman Percy Lapid. This was confirmed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla at a press conference Monday morning. “Bantag had a clear motive to effect the murders. For Percy Lapid, it was the continued expose by the latter of the issues against the latter on his show Lapid Fire,” NBI special action unit investigator Eugene Javier said. “The investigation has brought to light the institutionalization of a criminal organization within the government. This will be the cause of many reforms in government,” he also vowed. The NBI said in its timeline of events that the order to kill Lapid was coursed through six layers before it reached confessed gunman Joel Escorial. Those who passed the order on include gangs at the New Bilibid Prison, BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta, and eventually, Bantag himself. When the Department of the Interior and Local Government held a press conference to introduce Escorial after the latter turned himself in, Zulueta was “concerned that Escorial might know him” and sought to tie up loose ends. Zulueta warned Alvin Labra, a commander at the Batang City Jail or BCJ gang “that Bantag’s name should not come out.” When Escorial confessed that the order came from Jun Villamor, a member of the Sputnik gang tasked to look for a hitman on the outside, Zulueta had the former killed. As one of his last acts before his murder, Villamor reached out to his sister and said he may be killed soon. He then revealed the names of those involved in the conspiracy to kill the radio journalist. “The beer, the drugs, the telephones, the weapons inside Bilibid are a very strong indication of the presence of a criminal organization with a centralized purchasing system,” Remulla also said Monday. “The sworn statements of the PDLs show a clear and direct line of communication from the Director-General and DSO Ricardo Zulueta to Denver Mayores who communicated with Alvin Labra who then coordinated with Aldrin Galicia who then orchestrated and executed the killing ofPercy Lapid through his Gang members and his Gang members’ contacts on the outside ultimately ending with gunman Joel Escorial and his group,” the DOJ said in a statement. But when asked by reporters on Monday about the direct links to Bantag, Remulla only said that the conclusion came about after consideration of “the totality of all the statements” gathered from the gang commanders who were investigated. The NBI said that Bantag, who does not yet have a warrant as of press time, is now under “monitoring.””This is an exceptional case. None of these people would have talked if General Bantag remained as the head of the BuCor. The fear of General Bantag is just tremendous and unbelievable from the eyes of these PDLs,” Remulla said. BuCor Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta, among those facing raps, headed the bureau’s Directorate for Security and Operations. Along with Bantag, he was acquitted of homicide in 2020, a case that stemmed from the deaths of 10 detainees in an explosion at the Parañaque Cit Jail in 2016. Zulueta is still at large and was last seen “four to five days ago,” Remulla said. He added that a lookout order will soon be issued, which would allow immigration officers to monitor attempts to leave the country. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos also called on the superintendent to surrender to authorities.
Lapid’s kin ‘optimistic’ about identifying more masterminds in slay case | INQUIRER.NET – The family of slain newsman Percy Lapid is “optimistic” that the murder complaints filed against suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag and several others will help discover more masterminds in radioman-vlogger’s audacious assassination. The family’s statement came in light of the charges filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Bantag, BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta and other cohorts, including inmates or persons deprived of liberty, allegedly connected with the murder of Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, and supposed middleman Cristito Palaña – earlier referred to as Jun or Crisanto Villamor. The family thanked the DOJ, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, as well as Mabasa’s supporters and listeners, for standing by them during their grief and pursuit of justice. “We are optimistic, and asking for prayers and continued support for identifying more masterminds behind Bantag,” they added. The family members then hailed the initiative to investigate into BuCor anomalies, which they said were earlier exposed by Lapid’s hard-hitting commentaries on his program “Lapid Fire.” “Sana po ay umpisa na ito upang mapalakas ang proteksyon sa mga mamamahayag na ipinaglalaban ang katotohanan. Gaya po ng palaging sinasabi ni Ka Percy, ‘Ang paglalahad ng katotohanan ay ‘di katapangan kundi isang obligasyon,” they added. (We hope this launches efforts to strengthen the protection given to journalists who fight to tell the truth. As Percy used to say, “telling the truth is an obligation, not a form of strength.”) Lawyer Berteni Causing, spokesman of the Mabasa family, also welcomed the development which, he called, a “big leap” in the case. But he noted that the Lapid slay case is not yet over. “We do believe that it does not end here. We are entertaining the possibility that there might be other persons involved, who we’re looking at as co-masterminds,” he said in an ambush interview at the DOJ. Causing also bared their plan to consult with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on the administrative case their camp has been looking into filing against Bantag.
Price cuts on diesel, kerosene but gasoline to go up on Nov 8 | INQUIRER.NET – The pump price of gasoline will increase by more than P1 a liter while those diesel and kerosene will decrease starting Tuesday. Local oil firms announced on Monday the following price adjustments starting Nov. 8, Tuesday:
Shell (6 a.m.)
Gasoline: +P1.40 per liter
Kerosene: -P0.35 per liter
Diesel: -P0.50 per liter
Cleanfuel (4:01 p.m.)
Gasoline: +P1.40 per liter
Diesel: -P0.50 per liter
Petrogazz (6 a.m.)
Gasoline: +P1.40 per liter
Diesel: -P0.50 per liter
Seaoil (6 a.m.)
Gasoline: +P1.40 per liter
Kerosene: -P0.35 per liter
Diesel: -P0.50 per liter
This is the third straight week that prices of diesel and kerosene will be rolled back. Local fuel prices are set based onthe average Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS). MOPS is the daily average price of refined petroleum products in Singapore trading. It is used for pricing petroleum products in Southeast Asia.
