We’ll file charges around weekend, Mabasa kin says
Family members grieve the loss of journalist Percival Mabasa at their home in Las Pinas, suburban Manila on Oct. 4, 2022. (File photo by JAM STA ROSA / Agence France-Presse)
MANILA, Philippines — Authorities are closing in on the alleged mastermind behind the murder of radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa, according to his younger brother, journalist Roy Mabasa
.“I think we’re getting there. Based on our conversations earlier, it seems like someone has already been pinpointed. But I’m not at liberty to say their names and identities,” said the younger Mabasa, who met with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo de Lemos for a case conference at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday morning.
“We’ll let DOJ finish their work, including NBI and PNP that will, I think, make an announcement in the next one, two or three days,” he added.
Remulla, in an interview on Wednesday afternoon, said they were just “tying up some loose ends.”
“Yes it’s possible, but we’re tying up loose ends,” he said. “Let’s just wait for a few more days. We just have to be more thorough on what we do… There are a lot of things to be discussed, a lot of angles that we have to work out on. It’s not as simple as it seems.”
According to Mabasa, some names of those possibly behind the killing were mentioned during the meeting.
He added that the authorities are looking at filing murder charges for both the killings of Mabasa and Cristito Villamor Palaña, an alleged middleman in the assassination of Mabasa.
An initial autopsy indicated that Palaña had died of cardiac arrest but an independent autopsy later performed by top forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun revealed that Palaña died of asphyxia or suffocation, and may have suffocated from a plastic bag placed over his head.
Palaña died on Oct. 18, a day after the surrender of Joel Escorial, the confessed gunman who pointed to him as the one who gave the orders to kill the radio commentator for P550,000.
Mabasa credited Fortun’s findings, saying it could be a great help in resolving the case.“It’s a big help because we saw there the cause of death of one of the middlemen was not a natural death… that’s really helpful in finding out who are really involved,” he said. He said they are eyeing to file additional murder charges against those involved by Friday or Monday next week.
Apart from Escorial, brothers Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan and a certain Orly have been charged with murder for Lapid’s killing before the DOJ.
Lawyer Berteni Causing, spokesperson for the Mabasa family, urged the Dimaculangan brothers and Orly to surrender to authorities.
“We appeal to them to cooperate. We assure them that we will recommend that they be placed under the WPP (Witness Protection Program),” said Causing, who accompanied Mabasa to the case conference.
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