THE inmate who allegedly facilitated the killing of veteran radio broadcaster Percy Lapid died inside the National Bilibid Prison, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
Remulla said the 42-year-old inmate was pronounced dead at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18.
He said an autopsy examination is ongoing.
“Sinasabi nila (they said) he was rushed to the hospital at 2:30 p.m., unable to breathe. They tried to revive [him], but he was dead. The autopsy is the best way to find out [his cause of death],” said Remulla.
Remulla said he has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to validate the assertions made about the case, noting that what he knew earlier is that the alleged "middleman" was under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
“Lumabas lang ‘yung may tao sa Bilibid (na involve sa case) sa dyaryo but when I spoke with (Interior) Secretary (Benhur) Abalos, he was told that it was BJMP, which I was told on Monday that it was BJMP, and I only find out about the real person today, so I decided to investigate,” he said.
(The person in the Bilibid involved in the case appeared on the newspaper, but when I spoke with Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, he was told that it was BJMP, which I was told on Monday that it was BJMP, and I only found out about the real person today, so I decided to investigate.)
The justice secretary said he told the NBI to make the investigation open to other medico-legal experts to identify the real cause of death of the inmate.
On Tuesday, October 18, Joel Escorial, the self-confessed gunman in Lapid’s murder case, said they were tapped by someone from inside the Bilibid to do the execution of the "hard-hitting" radio commentator.
He named three of his other cohorts identified as an alias Orly and brothers Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan.
Escorial, who has a bounty of P6.5 million on his head, said they were paid P550,000 for the killing of Lapid in which he got P140,000 that was transferred to his bank account.
Philippine National Police Officer-In-Charge Lieutenant General Rhodel Sermonia earlier said the alleged middleman was not yet in the Bilibid but in another jail facility as his trial over drug charges is still ongoing.
Lapid was shot dead while driving on his way home to Las Piñas City on October 3.
In a statement, Lapid’s brother Roy Mabasa said they were saddened by the “mysterious” passing of the alleged middleman. (SunStar Philippines)