Percy Lapid’s brother convinced as ‘gunman’ recalls slay

Roy Mabasa, brother of slain broadcaster Percival Mabasa, appeared before the DOJ and subscribed to the complaint-affidavit against Escorial and the three others. (Photo by TETCH TORRES-TUPAS / INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — The brother of slain radio broadcaster and vlogger Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa on Wednesday said he was “convinced” about the credibility of the alleged gunman after talking to the confessed assassin, but his family wasn’t ready to forgive him.

Journalist Roy Mabasa on Tuesday said that he had a “reservation” that the man presented by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos to the media that day was the real killer because his looks and demeanor were different from the suspected gunman caught by closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

“He gave us important information that confirmed to us how it was planned. It all corroborates with the police CCTV footage,” Mabasa said in an interview with CNN Philippines. “We were convinced that the information he gave us were accurate.”

Abalos told reporters that the gunman, Joel Escorial, whose last name had been misspelled by the police as Estorial, surrendered to the police on Monday, fearing for his life.

A P6.5-million bounty had been offered for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Both Abalos and the Philippine National Police repeatedly warned the formerly unknown gunman that he might be rubbed out by the mastermind of the killing.

Mabasa said the confessed killer’s statements and credibility would ultimately be questioned and tested in court.

During Tuesday’s press conference, a teary-eyed Escorial asked for forgiveness from his victim’s family.

But Mabasa said they won’t be ready to forgive Escorial before the court rules on the murder case.

“Once the decision is out and all those who need to be tried before the court have gone to trial, then the family will talk about how we will forgive the people behind my brother’s killing,” he said.

A “walk-through” — a police term for a visit to the crime scene and key places where a suspect or witnesses answer questions regarding details of a crime — on Tuesday night and a meeting with Escorial had established the alleged gunman’s role in his brother’s killing, Mabasa told reporters.

He said Escorial retraced the places where he and his accomplices had waited for his brother and tailed their target for two weeks, and where they finally shot and killed him on the night of Oct. 3 at one of the gates to BF Resort Village in Las Piñas City.

He said the alleged trigger man was “able to describe well” and had “very consistent and very specific” narration of how they conspired to carry out the assassination.

Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft, the Southern Police District chief, said they also had reservations about Escorial when he gave himself up.

“But during the conduct of his interview, he was able to answer all our questions. His anecdotes also matched with the CCTV footage and evidence we have gathered,” Kraft said.

Though still grieving, Mabasa said he was relieved that Escorial was cooperating in the police investigation.

Five accomplices

Before the walk-through, Escorial underwent an inquest for murder at the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.

Malcontento said three of his five alleged accomplices — Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, and a certain “Orly” or “Orlando” — were named as his co-respondents.

Mabasa signed the complaint against the suspects at the DOJ office on Wednesday “so we can officially file the murder case against the suspect and his three accomplices.”

“I asked him what was the motive and who was behind the murder. He said he was contracted by an inmate of Bilibid. I just don’t know which Bilibid he was referring to,” Mabasa said.

Kraft told the Inquirer that the police already had the name of the inmate but that “Bilibid” did not necessarily refer to New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. It could be another prison, he said.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday said he would ask Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag to look into Escorial’s claim.

‘Middleman’

Mabasa said Escorial told him that the fifth suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed, was involved in the surveillance of his brother.

He said in the CNN interview that the inmate was only the “middleman,” not the mastermind.

Mabasa appealed to the authorities to keep the inmate safe as he could point to the “actual man” behind the killing.

“I believe the mastermind is one of the subjects of Ka Percy’s exposés,” he said. “Ka Percy tackled many [personalities] that could be suspected, but we will let the police make the discretion as it is their expertise.”

His 63-year-old brother, a tough-talking critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the policies and officials of the Marcos administration, was shot twice to the head while driving to his studio in Las Piñas City to broadcast his “Lapid Fire” program on dwBL radio station that is livestreamed on his YouTube and Facebook accounts.

His death sparked local outrage and international condemnation, drawing attention to the nearly 200 journalists killed in the Philippines since 1986.

Hired gun for years

Mabasa said that Escorial admitted that he had been a hired killer “for many years” and had “felled many” victims.

Escorial told Mabasa that the initial plan was to kill the radioman-vlogger right outside the studio on Oct. 3.

“But they decided not to push through with it, as there were security guards posted on their way out of the subdivision,” Mabasa added.

When he was presented to the media on Tuesday, Escorial said there were two groups assigned for the kill—he and Orly, who drove the getaway motorcycle, and the Dimaculangan brothers on another motorcycle.

The agreement was whoever was closest to the target must fire, and that happened to be him, he said.

Paid via bank account

During the press conference at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Escorial said Orly had warned him that if he did not kill Mabasa “I will be the one who will turn up dead, so I just shot Percy.”

He said that he and his five accomplices were paid P550,000 for the hit. He received P140,000 in his bank account after the killing.

Mabasa said Escorial had realized that his life was in danger and told him that the “deciding point” for his surrender came on Monday this week after the “middle man” called and told him that they would be taken to a “safe house.”

“What ‘safe house’ really meant was they will be the ones next to be killed,” Mabasa told ANC television.

Kraft said Escorial, 39, a native of Leyte province, had no prior criminal record.

According to the police official, the self-trained hitman told him that his grandfather wanted him to become a police officer. “But since he was lazy in his studies, he became a killer for hire,” Kraft said in an interview with dzRH Radio.

Mabasa said he had “mixed emotions’’ prior to meeting Escorial.

“It’s hard to trust someone I barely know,” he told CNN.

—WITH A REPORT FROM TINA G. SANTOS

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