News Roundup 22 October 2022
Oct 22, 2022 • 7 min Read
Expert sees red flags in NBI autopsy findings on Percy Lapid slay ‘middleman’ | PHILSTAR.COM – One of the country’s top forensic pathologists saw red flags in the National Bureau of Investigation’s autopsy findings on one of the alleged middlemen in the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid. In a series of tweets in reply to queries from Lapid’s brother Roy Mabasa, Philstar.com and Rappler, forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun said the NBI’s autopsy findings on Jun Villamor is “not a technical report” but “more of an office communication.” Villamor, one of two alleged middlemen in the fatal ambush of Lapid, died inside the New Bilibid Prison on the day that Joel Escorial, the alleged gunman in the killing, was presented to the press. Fortun pointed out that Dr. Marjorie Ann Sanidad, who was identified in the memorandum as the one who performed CPR on Villamor before declaring him dead, was “not really the best” to certify the death of the alleged middleman. “Dr. Sanidad is the pronouncer, not really the best certifier available unless she did what DOH (Department of Health) promotes as a verbal autopsy,” Fortun said, referring to the process of interviewing family members knowledgeable on the probable cause of death of a person. Fortun then raised why Villamor’s body was only autopsied two days after he died and after he was embalmed at Eastern Funeral Homes. This is not clearly reflected on the NBI memo which does not say when the autopsy was conducted, even as it was dated October 20. The Bureau of Corrections said Villamor was declared dead at around 2 p.m. on October 18. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday, October 21, that he sent out NBI agents to conduct an autopsy on Villamor’s body on Thursday, October 20. With the autopsy along with a toxicology examination having been performed only after embalming, Fortun raised doubts on the potential results of these. “Eh ‘di ba embalmed na nga? Ano kayang results ang lalabas wait tayo? (Isn’t the body embalmed? What kind of results would come out? Let’s wait,)” she said. Fortun also questioned why a paraffin test was conducted on Villamor and why ballisticians were on standby in case bullets were recovered, when there were no signs of external injury or history of shooting. She also found the findings suggesting that Villamor may have had a heart ailment before he died lacking. “Check histopath, history, how old was he anyway? What are the other heart findings (weight, chambers, other valves, coronaries etc etc). Refer to a pathologist!” Fortun said. Besides these, Fortun also flagged the lack of basic information on Villamor in the NBI memo, like sex and age. She also noted that the findings revealed that Villamor is missing upper front teeth, which she said would have been useful to check if the deceased is the right Villamor. She added that there was a neck examination done, but raised questions whether there was actually a neck dissection and if asphyxia is ruled out. The NBI autopsy found that there were “no apparent sign of external physical injury” on Villamor’s body and suggested that he may have had a previous heart illness. This reinforces the initial findings of the Bureau of Corrections that Villamor probably died of natural causes instead of foul play. Asked if the NBI autopsy results now rule out foul play in the death of Villamor, Remulla only said: “We have to ask the doctor.”
Mabasa brother says 2nd ‘middleman’ uncooperative | INQUIRER.NET – The alleged second “middleman” linked to the Oct. 3 killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa is refusing to cooperate in the investigation of the assassination, the radioman-vlogger’s brother said on Friday. After officials disclosed on Thursday that an inmate at New Bilibid Prison (NBP), Jun Globa Villamor, the alleged first middleman died in prison on Tuesday, the police said the second, Christopher Bacoto, had been found safe in the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) awaiting resolution of a drug case. The confessed gunman, Joel Escorial, who surrendered to the police on Monday had told police that Villamor and Bacoto were two of his five accomplices. He said it was Villamor who had contracted him to kill Mabasa for P550,000. Investigators believed Villamor could have led them to the mastermind of the assassination. In various interviews on Friday, journalist Roy Mabasa, the broadcaster’s younger brother, said that based on his talks with the investigators, Bacoto was not helping the police in finding the mastermind and was asking for his lawyer. “This second one is already fully secured, according to the police, and he is in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. The sad thing here is that he is not cooperating,” Mabasa said. He said he learned about the involvement of both Villamor and Bacoto in the killing of his brother from Escorial’s extrajudicial confession. His lawyer, Bertini Causing, said the Mabasa family was “confident” an “alternative evidence” could still be found that could lead to the mastermind after Villamor died in “fishy circumstance” on Oct. 18, a day after Escorial surrendered. “We are still hopeful that there are other remedies that we can rely on. These remedies are other persons, including Mr. Bacoto,” Causing told the Inquirer. He said he could ask the court when the case comes to trial to order Bacoto to testify and cite him in contempt if he refused. “As of now, we cannot [really see] whether Mr. Bacoto would be telling material facts that would lead us to the final demand of justice in this case. We just hope that Mr. Bacoto will cooperate with us,” Causing said. Aside from a lack of cooperation from Bacoto, the police are also having a hard time getting evidence—particularly obtaining closed-circuit television footage from a mall and another from a car dealership—according to Causing.
Journalists’ safety tackled in DILG, PNP, media groups dialogue | INQUIRER.NET – Members of the media participated in a dialogue with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday to discuss the safety of journalists after the killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa. “Ramdam ng National Press Club of the Philippines na mayroon tayong kakampi sa kapulisan at pinakita nila yung aktibong pagtupad sa kanilang tungkulin na, batay po sa kautusan ng ating PNP Chief Azurin na lumapit sila sa media. Sila na mismo yung nagsagawa ng dialogo, para maparating kung ano man ang kanilang plano to protect the media,” said Lydia Bueno, president of the National Press Club. (The National Press Club of the Philippines feels that it has an ally in the police, and they showed their active fulfillment of their duties that are based on PNP Chief’s Azurin’s directive that they should approach the media. They themselves will conduct the dialogue so they can say what their plans are to protect the media). The president of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Herman Basbano also joined in the dialogue, as well as KBP Chairman Ruperto S. Nicdao, Jr. “It’s a very good way of building trust between media and DILG and PNP kasi alam natin yung nangyari in the past several days, mayroon konting issue of trust. And that’s because of the circumstances na nangyari. Namatay ang isang kasamahan natin, who is a known critic of government, tapos nagkaroon ng mga visitations, so syempre matatakot tayo, di ba?” said Nicdao. (It’s a very good way of building trust between the media and DILG and PNP because we know what has happened in the past several days, there is a bit of a trust issue. And that’s because of the circumstances. One of our colleagues died, who is a known critic of the government, then there were visitations, so of course we will get scared right?). Nicdao attributed the mistrust to “rogue elements” in the PNP. Basbano also emphasized that the PNP’s efforts are commendable, but can be improved. Basbano added that there should also be mechanisms to ensure that such visitations do not have abuses.
