SUSPENDED Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and SJO2 Ricardo Zulueta have been urged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to surrender after the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police filed charges against them over the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid and middleman Jun Villamor.
The NBI said Bantag and SJO2 Ricardo Zulueta ordered the killing of Lapid and alleged middleman Jun Villamor due to “Lapid’s continued exposure of [Bantag’s] activities on his program.”
Villamor was killed to “cover up Lapid’s death.”
President Marcos earlier ordered Bantag placed under suspension for 90 days without pay following Villamor’s death while under BuCor custody.
Atty. Eugene Javier of the NBI said their joint investigation with the PNP revealed a “large scale and systematic criminal organization” inside the Bureau of Corrections, which was behind the killing of Lapid.
He said that when the PNP tried to secure Villamor after he was named by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial as a middleman, they were met with much resistance on the part of BuCor officials. Javier said BuCor personnel indicated they will be killed if they entertain PNP request.
Javier says BuCor officials only admitted Villamor’s death on October 20 and that the sequence of events show conspirators planned to silence anyone who wants to uncover the crime, even before Escorial surrendered.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla cited “totality of circumstances” in linking Bantag to the crime.
Now that complaint has been filed, Remulla said Zulueta and Bantag will be subpoenaed at their last known addresses. He added Zulueta has been in hiding.
He urged Bantag and Zulueta to surrender, saying the DOJ will issue a lookout bulletin order for the two.
