Crime scene walk through with Escorial and Roy Mabasa, October 18, 2022. Photo from SPD PIO
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Saturday said the confessed gunman in the killing of radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa acted as the paymaster to his five accomplices in the assassination plot.
According to Remulla, a report by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) had confirmed that P550,000 was deposited into the bank account of Joel Escorial, who surrendered to the police on Oct. 17, admitting that he was the person who shot and killed Mabasa on Oct. 3.
In his interview with dzBB radio station on Saturday, Remulla said Escorial gave a “very accurate” account of his role.
Responding to a question, the justice secretary said the alleged gunman did not distribute all the P550,000 to his accomplices in one go.
According to the AMLC report, Escorial made “many deposits” to the accounts of his accomplices within a “20-day period,” Remulla said without elaborating.
Remulla did not identify who deposited the payment for the hit job, saying that would have to be further looked into because “it sheds more light into the financial activities” inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
In his extrajudicial confession, Escorial said he got a call from his childhood friend from Leyte, Cristito “Jun Villamor” Palaña, an inmate at NBP to contract the killing of Mabasa who acted as a “middleman” to the mastermind.
He identified his other accomplices as a certain Orly, or Orlando, who drove his getaway motorcycle; brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, the backup gunmen; and the “second” middleman, Christopher Bacoto, who was being held by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology awaiting resolution of several criminal cases.
Palaña died in mysterious circumstances a day after Escorial surrendered.
In a supplemental affidavit on Oct. 22, Escorial said that Palaña had told him that the order to kill Mabasa came from a certain Bantag. He did not give the full name of the person.
The suspended chief of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is Gerald Bantag. President Marcos ordered his suspension to clear the way for an investigation of Palaña’s death.
BuCor Deputy Director General and spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said at that time that the inmate died of natural causes as there were no signs of foul play. But an autopsy by forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun determined that Palaña’s death was a homicide and that he died of asphyxia, or suffocation, likely with the use of a plastic bag.
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