Remulla: No gunman would be there without a conspiracy

SPEAKER Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday lauded Interior and Local Government Sec. Benhur Abalos and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the arrest of a suspect in the killing of media broadcaster Percival Mabasa, more popularly known as Percy Lapid.

“We in the House of Representatives welcome this positive development in the unfortunate crime that took the life of Percy Lapid. We applaud the efforts of SILG Abalos and the police to swiftly resolve the case,” Romualdez said.

“And the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of Lapid is indeed a welcome development. We hope that this arrest leads to the apprehension of the other suspects in the gruesome murder of Lapid and the resolution of the case,” Romualdez said.

“The protection of members of the Fourth Estate is of paramount importance as they play a vital role in nation-building,” he said.

Lapid was shot to death last October 3 in Las Piñas City.

The self-confessed gunman – Joel Estorial – was presented by Abalos and the PNP in a press conference Tuesday.

The House of Representatives earlier raised P5 million as a reward for any information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime against Lapid. This came from the personal money of some House members appalled by the incident.

Abalos Jr. on Tuesday announced the surrender of a man who confessed to be the gunman who killed Lapid, 63, outside a subdivision in Las Piñas City last October 3 after a Bilibid prison ‘insider’ contracted them to do the hit job for P550,000.

The DILG chief presented the suspect identified as Joel Salve Estorial, a 39-year old native of Leyte residing at Block 25, Lot 30, Gabriela Silang Street in Quezon City before newsmen at Camp Crame.

Abalos was joined by Philippine National Police Officer-in-Charge (PNP OIC), Lieutenant General Rhodel O. Sermonia and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Brigadier Gen. Jonnel C. Estomo in presenting the suspect who was made to wear a Kevlar helmet and a bullet-proof vest.

“He surrendered out of fear for his safety,” said the DILG chief who added that the suspect’s image was captured on CCTV recordings gathered by the Special Investigation Task Group Lapid created to look into the radioman’s murder.

“Siya talaga ang gunman. Even the gun recovered from his possession matched the casing recovered at the crime scene during a ballistics cross-matching,” Abalos said.

The official said the suspect identified brothers Edmund,30; and Israel Dimaculangan,35; and one alias ‘Orly’ as his cohorts in the plot to kill Lapid.

Abalos called on the Dimaculangan brothers, both residents of 01 Molave St. in Gatchalian Subdivision, Barangay Manuyo Dos in Las Piñas City to surrender and face the charges against them.

Shortly after he was made to sit between Abalos and Estomo, the suspect said he yielded to the police after his face was splashed on television. “Natakot po ako,” he said even as he was asked by Abalos to just say the truth.

Speaking in the vernacular, the suspect said he and the Dimaculangan brothers and ‘Orly’ met before the killing with ‘Orly’ driving the motorcycle he was riding. The confessed gunman said that ‘Orly’ is from Batangas.

He claimed that Israel told them during their meeting “kung sino matapat ke Percy, siya ang babaril.” The suspect said he shot the victim when he happened to be very near him.

The confessed killer claimed that somebody from Bilibid Prisons asked them to do the ‘contract killing.’ “Kinontrata kami galing sa loob ng Bilibid, tinawag sa amin,” he said.

“Sana mapatawag ako ng pamilya ng biktima. Nadala lang ako ng kahirapan, wala talaga akong pera,” he said.

Abalos said that the suspect made an extrajudicial confession detailing the facts and circumstances regarding the killing of Lapid for P550,000.

“Anim kami lahat na involved. Ang nakuha ko na P140,000 na parte ko ay hinulog ko sa banko,” he said.

After the suspect made the statements, Abalos ordered that he be led outside the jampacked conference room. The supposed press conference scheduled by the DILG also did not push thru.

However, he answered back at queries shouted by some reporters. “Mahirap mag-conclude kung sino ang mastermind pa kasi we base it all on hard evidence,” he said.

Southern Police District director, Brig. Gen. Kirby John B. Kraft saidthe suspect surrendered on Monday even as he asked the media to allow them to have more time in interviewing the suspect.

Journal Group sources said the suspect surrendered to the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headed by Brig. Gen. Ronald O. Lee on Monday. In turn, the CIDG turned over the confessed gunman to the SITG Lapid.

Abalos said that the P6.5 million bounty offered for the capture of the suspects in the Lapid killing will remain untouched since the suspect surrendered. Lawyer Alexander Lopez first offered a P1 million reward for any tipster that would lead the police to the killers. Sec. Abalos likewise said he will also give a P500,000 reward out from his own pocket to the informant.

Last week, Speaker Romualdez said they will offer a P5 million reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of the killers..

PNP chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., who is in India attending an Interpol conference has ordered the NCRPO to ensure the safety and security of the Mabasa family and anybody who will come forward to give information on the case.

The confessed gunman is now under the NCRPO custody.

Smells like conspiracy

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday disclosed that he will ask Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag to explain Estorial’s claim that the order to kill Lapid came from within the walls of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

“I will tell him to give me a report on this, if he has any knowledge already. Because what the gunman said and what the DG (Director General Bantag) knows, we do not know if they are the same.

We cannot presume that,” Remulla said.

In a press briefing, Remulla is convinced that there was conspiracy in the murder of Lapid.

“… definitely a gunman is not the whole crime itself. It has to be vetted as a whole conspiracy probably. No gunman would be there without a conspiracy,” Remulla said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Tuesday expressed hope that the surrender of the gunman in the Percy Lapid killing will also lead to the arrest and prosecution of the mastermind.

Welcoming the arrest as a positive development, the NUJP said in a statement: ” We hope that this arrest will lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution of whoever ordered and paid for the killing of our colleague.”

” Accountability in this case will help chip away at the culture of impunity around journalist killings that media, civil society and government agencies have been working to change. ” By RYAN PONCE PACPACO, ALFRED DALIZON & HECTOR LAWAS