News Roundup 19 October 2022
Oct 19, 2022 • 7 min Read
Murder raps filed vs Percy Lapid killers | INQUIRER.NET – Complaint for murder has been filed against four people involved in the killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa, popularly known as Percy Lapid. In the complaint filed by the Southern Police District, named in the complaint is the confessed gunman Joel Escorial; Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan, and a certain “Orly.” Only Escorial is under custody. Roy Mabasa, the victim’s brother, appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and subscribed to the complaint-affidavit against Escorial and the three others. Escorial, who, according to the Police surrendered on October 16, was presented to the media on Tuesday. He surrendered for fear of his personal safety.
Slain broadcaster’s kin: ‘Gunman’ needs vetting | INQUIRER.NET – The family of slain radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa on Tuesday expressed “reservation” that the confessed assassin was the real killer and lawmakers said the police should ensure a tight case against those responsible for the killing. Roy Mabasa, the victim’s younger brother and a fellow journalist, was thankful to authorities for getting the suspect, Joel Escorial, to surrender but said his family would ask the Philippine National Police to allow them to meet the alleged gunman and to stage a reenactment of the Oct. 3 fatal ambush to “test the integrity of his story.” “This is not because I am doubtful of the results of the investigation but this is just a reservation that he really is the one we saw on the closed-circuit television footage (of the crime scene),” he said in a phone interview. He said some of his friends and colleagues believe Escorial’s “profile didn’t seem to match” the suspect who was caught by the CCTV cameras. He said the request “is also for the public good.” The 63-year-old Mabasa, a tough-talking critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the policies and officials of the Marcos administration, was shot twice to the head while driving to his studio in Las Piñas City to broadcast his “Lapid Fire” program on dwBL radio station which is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. Escorial surrendered to the police on Monday. He said he feared for his life and asked for forgiveness from his victim’s family. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos had announced a P6.5-million reward for the shooter. He had repeatedly warned the gunman to surrender or face possible elimination by those behind the assassination. When Escorial was presented by Abalos to the media at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame on Tuesday, the confessed gunman’s face was half-covered by a mask and he was wearing a bulletproof vest and Kevlar helmet. “The public may be asking, did he really surrender or he’s just a fall guy? No, it’s really him,” Abalos said. He said investigators were confident that Escorial was the gunman because the slugs recovered from the crime scene matched those from the .45-caliber pistol he had turned over to the police and the red jacket he was seen wearing when he shot the broadcaster was recovered, although it had already been torn up. “I am afraid for my life and I am being bothered by my conscience for what I did to Percy Lapid,” Escorial said. “I hope that they forgive me,” he said, teary-eyed. “I did not want to do it. I was forced to do it because of poverty. I had no job and I needed the money.” Escorial, 39, is a native of Javier, a fourth-class municipality in Leyte province, who had settled in Quezon City. According to Escorial, he and five others were involved in the killing. He named three of them—brothers Edmon, 30, and Israel Dimaculangan, 35, who were residents of Las Piñas; and a certain “Orly” or “Orlando” from Batangas province. The three are now the subjects of an “intensive follow-up operation” by a special police task group, according to Police Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office. Escorial said the person who “put out the contract” to kill Mabasa was an inmate at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who served as the middle man for the unknown mastermind. Police said the fifth accomplice was still unidentified. ‘Straight out of a film’ Mabasa’s brother said Escorial’s confession, if true, was “scary because this story is like straight out of a film” and those involved could be killed “and the truth will die with them.” “I do not want my brother to be simply part of the statistics of our dismal record of impunity in the country,” he said. Roy now stands as caretaker to his brother’s wife and six children. “Our number one concern is safety for as long as the suspects are still at large,” he said.
Surrender of Percy Mabasa’s shooter leaves more questions than answers | PHILSTAR.COM – Even with the supposed shooter under custody, the Philippine National Police admitted Wednesday that it was left with more questions than answers in the killing of radioman Percy Lapid. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. presented Joel Escorial, initially identified as Estorial, to the press on Tuesday, a day after the latter supposedly surrendered to the police out of fear that he would be recognized. Speaking in an interview aired over ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Wednesday, Police Col. Restituto Arcangel could only give the media assurances that the investigation was still ongoing. Arcangel, the head of the Special Investigation Task Group assigned to take on the case, admitted that as of now, he did not have answers to the questions raised by the sudden surrender of Escorial, who admitted to being the gunman behind the killing of Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa. “All our efforts are focused on the documents required in the filing of cases against him with regards to Lapid… Whatever additional revelations come out, we will investigate,” he said in mixed Filipino and English. Earlier, Sen. Bong Revilla urged the PNP to continue its investigation even with the shooter in custody, saying much remains unclear, particularly how the order could have come from inside the national penitentiary. In a Facebook post late Tuesday night, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, PNP chief congratulated the SITG for what he said was the “immediate custody of the gunman of the Percy Lapid killing and the identification of three other cohorts.” “The surrender of Escorial is a major breakthrough in the death of Percy Lapid and is expected to bring closure to the sensational case,” he was quoted as saying by the PNP’s public information office. Escorial underwent inquest proceeding on Tuesday for murder. The resolution on the complaint is expected to come out this week. The PNP could not provide much information when asked about its line of questioning for Escorial, but said the request of Roy Mabasa, the victim’s brother, to speak with the suspect was granted Tuesday night. A lawyer was also present in the room when Escorial was questioned, Arcangel said, and the confessed gunman was read his Miranda Rights as required under the Revised Police Operational Procedures. Escorial also claimed that the mastermind in the case and the person who contacted him, supposedly separate people, came from inside the New Bilibid Prison. Pressed whether or not the police actually asked Escorial about the identity of the perpetrator, Arcangel said: “As far as I know, he did not mention who the mastermind was. He only said who he talked to, and that’s what our investigators are following.” Asked how the suspects could have reached out to Escorial if they were behind bars, the police colonel said: “That’s what I can’t answer right now. As I said, we will pursue that… All of that will be pursued by our investigators.” Arcangel refused to answer the question of Escorial’s possible motive, saying the investigation was still ongoing and could be compromised by the release of information. Escorial’s family is also under the PNP’s protection, the SITG chief disclosed. Meanwhile, an investigation has been ordered to look into the claim of Escorial that the hit order came from inside the New Bilibid Prison.
