Killing of Percy Lapid

Percy Lapid
Percy Lapid in 2015
Born	Percival Carag Mabasa (1959-03-14)March 14, 1959 Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Philippines
Died	October 3, 2022(2022-10-03) (aged 63) Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines
Cause of death	Multiple gunshot wounds
Resting place	Manila Memorial Park – Sucat, Parañaque, Philippines
Other names	Percy Lapid Ka Percy Lapid Fire
Occupation(s)	Radio broadcaster, columnist
Years active	1985–2022
Employer	DWBL/FBS Radio Network
Spouse	Marilou Santiago
Children	6

Percival Carag Mabasa (March 14, 1959 – October 3, 2022),[2] known professionally as Percy Lapid (Tagalog: [ˈpɛɾsi ˈlapid]), was a Filipino journalist and radio broadcaster.[3] He was a critic of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor, Rodrigo Roa Duterte.[4] He hosted the radio program Lapid Fire on DWBL, where he tackled cases of corruption.[5] He disclosed irregularities regarding the Sugar Regulatory Administration's aborted Sugar Order No. 4 amidst a sugar crisis. The scandal faced by the Marcos administration led to the resignation of the executive secretary Vic Rodriguez in September 2022.[3]

Lapid was vocal against the dangers of red-tagging, a practice where the government attempts to silence journalists and other dissenters by accusing them of being communists.[6][7] He was also outspoken against disinformation and the government's war on drugs.[7]

Aside from being a DWBL host, Lapid has also been a radio reporter and commentator since 1985 for DWXI, DZME, DWBC, DZRM, DWIZ, and DZRJ and a columnist for the tabloid Hataw.

Percy Lapid was killed on October 3, 2022, at around 8:30 pm (UTC+8) while he was driving on his way home to BF Resort Village, a gated community in Las Piñas.[3] There was a traffic buildup[8] at the subdivision's gate near Aria Street in Barangay Talon 2 due to the routine inspection of all vehicles for a sticker required for entry into the subdivision.[9] A motorcycle with two people on board approached Lapid's vehicle in the queue,[9] and the gunman from this motorcycle fired two shots at Lapid, killing Lapid instantly.[3] Lapid's vehicle was about 50 meters (160 ft) from the gate when the incident occurred.[8]

Lapid was the third journalist in the Philippines to be killed in 2022, according to data from UNESCO,[10] and the second during the presidency of Bongbong Marcos, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.[11]

Two motorcycle-riding men were seen being involved in Lapid's killing.[12] The police identified one "person-of-interest", a man wearing a pink jacket who was walking near the Las Piñas City Hall, about five minutes away from Lapid's home. Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos believed the killer to be a professional gunman.[8]

Joel Escorial surrendered to the authorities on October 17, 2022, and confessed to being the gunman in Lapid's killing.[13] He implicated brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan as his partners in crime, and stated that they received orders from an individual named "Orlando" or "Orly", who in turn answered to another person detained inside the New Bilibid Prison,[14] later identified as Jun Villamor.[lower-alpha 1] Christopher Bacoto, also known as Jerry Sandoval, has been alleged as another middleman who tasked Escorial, the Dimaculangan brothers, and "Orly", with the killing of Lapid.[15]

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would file charges against several people in connection with Lapid's death, including Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag who was formally charged with murder.[16][17]

Bantag maintained innocence and alleges that drug lord German Agojo was responsible for the killing.[18]

In March 2023, the Department of Justice indicted a total of seventeen individuals over the killings of Lapid and Villamor.[2] Double murder charges were separately filed before the Regional Trial Courts of Muntinlupa (on the case of Villamor) on March 13, and of Las Piñas (that of Lapid) on March 14.[19] The panel of prosecutors said it found probable cause to charge Bantag and his deputy, Sr. Supt. Ricardo Zulueta, as "principal by inducement." Also indicted as principals are:[2][20]

• Two "persons deprived of liberty" (PDLs) involved in both cases (by indispensable cooperation in Lapid case; by inducement in Villamor case).
• In Lapid case: Four by direct participation, including Escorial; three more PDLs by indispensable cooperation.
• In Villamor case: Six PDLs by direct participation.

In April, Muntinlupa RTC Branch 266 issued an arrest warrant against Bantag and Zulueta for the murder of Villamor. Las Piñas RTC Branch 254 also issued the same against the two as well as the Dimaculangan brothers and alias Orly/Orlando for the murder of Mabasa. The manhunt against them is ongoing.[21][22]

In behalf of Bantag and Zulueta, their lawyers filed a petition on July 10 (but made public about a month later) before the Court of Appeals asking to nullify their indictment by the DOJ, citing grave abuse of discretion on the part of the respondents; and to also nullify from the beginning the preliminary investigation conducted by the DOJ, with Bantag claiming that the Ombudsman should do so since the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction over him, as a public official.[23][24] Bantag questioned the supposed lack of evidence linking him to the death of Lapid.[23]

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Human Rights opened investigations into the killing.[25] The PNP reviewed CCTV cameras along the known route taken by Lapid, the dashcam on the victim's vehicle, and Lapid's cellphone, and interviewed the victim's family.[8][12][26] The PNP's National Capital Region Police Office stated that they did not find any evidence on Lapid's cellphone and that Lapid's family was not aware of any threats to the journalist's life.[8] The police did not determine a motive for the killing.[8]

Joel Escorial surrendered to authorities on October 17, 2022, and confessed to being the gunman in Percy Lapid's killing. He named Jun Villamor[lower-alpha 1] as his contact inside the New Bilibid Prison.[15] Villamor would die on October 18. The Bureau of Corrections' initial investigation concluded that Villamor died of natural causes and not as a result of foul play. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also conducted an autopsy and found no signs of external injury on Villamor's body. This was, however, contradicted by the findings of a second autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun, who concluded that Villamor died of suffocation from a plastic bag.[27][28]

President Marcos ordered Justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to place Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag under preventive suspension for 90 days pending investigation on his role in the killing.[29] The NBI established from sworn statements from certain "persons deprived of liberty" (PDLs) that there was a clear direct line of communication between Bantag and deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta and Escorial through middlemen which included Alvin Labra and gang leader Aldrin Galicia.[17] Bantag's being the subject of criticisms by Lapid on his radio program Lapid Fire was cited as a possible motivation for the killing.[17]

Eight co-accused involved in the death of Villamor, all PDLs, pleaded guilty of accomplice and accessory in the murder. They were convicted by the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 on June 27, 2023, and were given prison sentences: five of them, from six years and a day to at least 14 years; while the rest, more than two years to eight years and a day.[30][31]

On the same day, the court issued an order archiving the case against Bantag and Zulueta, pending their arrest for the killing of Villamor.[32]