Percival Mabasa —videograb from fb page of Percy Lapid Fire
Under a plea bargain, eight New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates pleaded guilty to less grave offenses and were convicted by a Muntinlupa City court for their involvement in the murder of their fellow inmate Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid.
READ: Media slay probe twist: Jailed ‘middleman’ dead
In his June 27, order which was released on Thursday, presiding Judge Gener Gito of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206 found Sputnik gang commander Aldrin Galicia, Sputnik gang assistant commander Joseph Georfo, and Batang City Jail gang commander Alvin Labra guilty of being “accessories to the crime of murder.”
The three, in addition to Mario Alvarez, a Sputnik gang member, were initially charged as principals but by “indispensable cooperation.”
They were each sentenced to a prison term ranging from two years, four months, and a day up to eight years and a day. On top of this, they must pay Villamor’s kin P150,000 each in civil indemnity and total damages.
‘Direct participation’
Five other inmates—Sputnik gang members Alvarez, Christian Ramac, Ricky Salgado, Ronnie dela Cruz, and Joel Reyes—were convicted for being “accomplices” and sentenced from six years and a day up to 14 years, eight months and a day.
They were also directed to pay their victim’s family P225,000 each in civil indemnity, moral and exemplary damages.
Except for Alvarez, all four were originally charged as principals by “direct participation.”
Villamor was found dead inside NBP after he was identified by self-confessed gunman Joel S. Escorial as the middleman in the plan to kill Lapid.
The first autopsy performed by the National Bureau of Investigation showed that he died from natural causes but a second one conducted by independent forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun revealed that he was suffocated using a plastic bag.
The court, meanwhile, ordered the archiving of the case against former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Gerald Bantag and his former deputy, Ricardo Zulueta, who both remain at large.
“Considering that the other accused in this case, accused DG (Director General) Gerald Bantag y Quitaleg and CT/SSUPT. (Corrections Technical Senior Supt.) Ricardo Zulueta y Soriano, are not yet arrested, let this case be sent to the archive subject to revival upon arrest of said accused,” it said.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has offered a P3 million cash reward to anyone who can provide information about the former BuCor officials’ whereabouts.
“We want law enforcers to be more aggressive in helping the DOJ arrest the suspects who allegedly conspired to kill Percy Lapid,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said at a press briefing on June 20.
The DOJ also said that it had established “sufficient circumstantial evidence” to tag Bantag as the mastermind in the murders of Villamor and Lapid.
On Friday, the Las Piñas RTC Branch 254 also sentenced Galicia and Labra, along with Happy Go Lucky gang commander Alfie Peñaredonda, to up to eight years in prison after they pleaded guilty to the murder of Lapid.
Lapid, a known critic of Bantag, was the host of the online radio program “Percy Lapid Fire.” He was on his way home when he was shot dead by two men in October 2022.