JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said evidence collated by investigators, and the testimonies provided by witnesses, have pointed to suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag’s complicity in the hugely-controversial Percy Lapid killing.

Remulla, who is now in Switzerland to represent the Philippine government in the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), issued a statement urging Bantag “not (to) muddle the issue, not (to) clutch at straws.”

Remulla described Bantag’s latest tirade, who was earlier interviewed over Pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy’s SMNI Network, as coming from someone with “a misguided sense of betrayal.”

“Nobody wanted the evidence to point to Director-General Bantag. The Department of Justice (DOJ) understands the predicament of DG Bantag. His words and actions, no matter how personal and inappropriate, come from a misguided sense of betrayal,” Remulla said.

Remulla added that there was a long list of persons considered persons-of-interest in the Lapid murder, including many politicians, government officials, and big names on that list.

“The method used in the investigation conducted jointly between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was the method of deduction,” he said.

However, from all the evidence collected so far — the sworn statements of the PDLs, ballistics analysis, CCTV footage, the money trail, and all other physical evidence gathered to boost the credibility of the statements — they all pointed to the Bantag and other respondents as perpetrators, Remulla said.

“Simply said, anybody in the position of the NBI and the PNP would file this case given the totality of circumstances they gathered from the investigation. They have been on this case from the very start. They had the privilege of observing body language, asking probing questions, receiving intelligence reports and finally piecing everything together, “ Remulla said in the statement.

He called on Bantag, who was preventively suspended for 90 over the death of middleman Jun Villamor, to refute the charges against him by filing his counter-affidavit.

“To end, there is no other motive here than to bring out the truth and reality. Of course, this will be done through our legal processes and with due process afforded to everyone involved,” Remulla said.

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Hector Lawas