INTERIOR Secretary Benhur Abalos has expressed dismay over the death of the alleged “middleman” in the killing of radio commentator Percy Lapid inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
In a press conference on Thursday evening, October 20, 2022, Abalos said they will wait for the result of the autopsy examination, which may identify if there was foul play on the inmate's sudden passing.
“Sa totoo lang, hinayang na hinayang kami sa nangyaring ito. Sana maunawaan ng lahat na pinaghirapan ito ng kapulisyahan ang kasong ito... Halos araw-araw talagang pinagpaguran ito ng Task Force Lapid, ng mga kapulisyahan. Talagang binack-track ito hanggang sa matunton natin itong gunman. It has really been a hard work on the part of our PNP (Philippine National Police),” he said.
(To be honest, we are very saddened by what happened. I hope everyone understands that the police have worked hard on this case... Task Force Lapid, the police have really worked hard on this almost every day. It was actually backtracked until we tracked down this gunman. It has been hard work on the part of our PNP.)
“Sa nangyaring ito, hinayang kami. Ngayon meron autopsy na ginagawa ngayon at malaman muna namin ang autopsy dahil once talagang merong foul play dito, talagang galit kami, galit na galit kami and we are demanding kung mangyari man yun ang mananagot ay talagang dapat managot,” he added.
(When this happened, we were really saddened. There is an autopsy being done right now and we need to know the results of the autopsy first because if there really is foul play here, we are aggrieved, we are exasperated and the person responsible must be responsible.)
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Bilibid inmate who allegedly facilitated the killing of Lapid died in the afternoon of October 18, 2022, hours after Joel Escorial was presented by the PNP to the public as the confessed gunman.
Police said Escorial surrendered on October 17 and issued his extrajudicial confession about the incident.
Escorial said they were contacted by a person inside the Bilibid and offered them money in exchange for Lapid's killing. They were paid P550,000, of which he got P140,000.
He named three of his other cohorts identified as an alias Orly and brothers Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan.
Southern Police District Director Brigadier General Kirby John Kraft said there is one more inmate under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) who served as a “middleman” for the killing of Lapid.
“Dalawa po itong ating middleman na kumontak po sa kanila at ‘yung isa nga po nandito po sa BJMP. So sinecure po natin yan,” he said.
(Two middlemen contacted them and one of them is here at the BJMP. We are securing that.)
“Ang tao po ay nasa NBP... Siguro maunawaan niyo na po yun. Kumpleto po kami ng isinagawang pag iimbestiga, meron po tayong mga request para madetermine po talaga na ito ay nakakulong sa NBP (The person is in the NBP... We have completed the investigation, we have requests so that it can be determined that he is detained at the NBP),” he added when asked how the sudden death happened when the inmate who could have been the key for the identification of the mastermind was secured.
Kraft said Escorial is still under the custody of the police under tight security amid the conduct of further probe. (SunStar Philippines)