(FROM LEFT) BUCOR SUPT. RICARDO ZULUETA, GERALD BANTAG, AND PERCY LAPID — PHOTO FROM BUCOR/FACEBOOK PAGE/INQUIRER FILES
A Muntinlupa City court has ordered the arrest of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag and his deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta for the murder of Cristito “Jun Villamor” Palaña, the alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
The April 12 warrant issued by Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 Presiding Judge Gener Gito noted that no bail was recommended for the two men, who were also charged last month in a Las Piñas City court for Mabasa’s murder. The Las Piñas court has not yet issued an arrest warrant for Bantag and Zulueta.
Mabasa, who was an arch-critic of Bantag in his online radio show, was shot to death in Las Piñas City on Oct. 3, 2022, by a motorcycle-riding assailant.
On Oct. 17, 2022, confessed gunman Joel Escorial surrendered to the authorities and said at a press conference on the following day that Palaña, an inmate at New Bilibid Prison (NBP), contracted him to kill Mabasa for P550,000.
Just hours after the press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters, Palaña was found dead at NBP. His sister, Marisa, said she had received a text message from him naming three prison gang leaders who might be involved in case he died.
Medicolegal experts from the National Bureau of Investigation said in their autopsy report that they found “no apparent external injuries” on Palaña, suggesting that he died of natural causes.
However, forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun performed a second autopsy and determined that Palaña was suffocated to death with a plastic bag placed over his head.
‘Clear and direct line’
“The prosecution notes that the death of Villamor (Palaña) was intertwined with the death of Percival and that the death of the former was used to cover up the death of the latter,” the Department of Justice said in a statement summing up the indictment resolution.
The joint investigation by the NBI and PNP concluded that Bantag and Zulueta had a “clear and direct line of communication” with the prison gang leaders about the plan to execute Palaña.
The sworn statements from the involved inmates revealed that Bantag and Zulueta ordered the murder of Palaña to cover up their killing of Mabasa.
“This unique circumstance shows that the order came from a high official of the BuCor. One usually seeks refuge and protection from his own gang members,” the investigators said in a press statement in November last year.
“The fact that they killed one of their own means and indicates that there were instructions from the top and the gang simply had no choice but to execute,” it added.
‘Welcome development’
Both Bantag and Zulueta have also been linked to the deaths of 10 prisoners in a Parañaque City Jail explosion in 2016.
The suspended BuCor chief is also facing a slew of charges, such as illegal diggings at the NBP reservation and torture of inmates and corrections staff.
Officers from the Northern Police District went to Bantag’s residence in Caloocan City on Thursday afternoon to serve the arrest warrant but he was not there.
Zulueta also wasn’t at his house in Pandi, Bulacan province, when police arrived with the warrant.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Bantag should just turn himself in.
“If you think you are innocent just come [out] and face the music. Anyway, the judges will be able to know if the truth is there,” Remulla said on the sidelines of the launching of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability for lawyers.
He said the issuance of the arrest warrant was part of due process and was “a welcome development.”
“It’s now up to law enforcement and the prosecutors to do their job. … Hopefully, we can arrest him or he will surrender,” Remulla said.
He said that the warrant would be “served in due time.”
Public gatherings
Bantag’s lawyer, Rocky Balisong, who is based in Baguio City, has yet to respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment.
Zulueta’s lawyer, Lauro Gacayan, said he has not yet consulted his client about the warrant.
Balisong is part of the group called Igorot Lawyers for Bantag, which had committed itself to defend the former BuCor chief, who hails from the Cordillera.
Bantag had been visible during large public gatherings in Baguio after he was implicated in the deaths of Mabasa and Palaña last year, attending local festivals accompanied by supporters.
He performed the “tayaw,” or community dance, at the Adivay Festival in Benguet province’s capital town of La Trinidad in November last year.
On Dec. 9, 2022, Bantag rode a horse during a “unity parade” in Baguio where he was joined by 2,000 sympathizers.
He rode to the Ibaloy Garden at Burnham Park, where he described the event as an opportunity to advocate for due process.
“This is not just for the Igorots … this is for the small people. If this can be done to me, it can be done to others,” he said in a video recorded by Baguio-based online news organization RNG (Regional News Group), referring to allegations made by some officials of his role in the Mabasa killing.
He was also seen at this year’s Panagbenga Baguio Flower Festival opening parade on Feb. 1.
During the Strawberry Festival in March, his supporters joined the civic parade carrying promotional materials for the movie, “Heneral Bantag.”
A few days later when his son graduated from the PNP Academy, he briefly shared the stage with President Marcos during the graduation rites. —WITH REPORTS FROM TINA G. SANTOS AND VINCENT CABREZA
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