The Philippine Ministry of Justice is offering a reward of nearly $36,000 (two million pesos) for information on the whereabouts of Gerald Bantag, the former prison chief accused of ordering the murder last October from the well-known Filipino journalist, Percy Lapid.
“We want both our agents and the rest of the people to be more aggressive in helping the Ministry of Justice to catch the suspects in the murder of Percy Lapid,” the Philippine Justice Minister explained in an interview with local media on Monday night. , Jesus “Boying” Remulla.
Bantag and his right-hand man, Ricardo Zulueta, for whom he also offer up to around 18,000 dollars (75 million Colombian pesos), They have been in search and capture since April 12, when the Philippine Justice accused both of ordering the murder of Filipino journalist Percy Lapid, who had accused him of alleged corruption scandals.
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Likewise, both former prison officials were accused of orchestrating the death of Jun Villamor, a go-between in charge of arranging the execution of Lapid who was found murdered in his cell at Bilibid prison, one of the most overcrowded correctional facilities in the world and that Bantag and Zulueta ran.
Gerald Bantag – who also accused the Minister of Justice of corruption before being formally charged – and the former director of operations of Bilibiid, Ricardo Zulueta, were last seen near Manila and according to the Ministry the two defendants may not have left the island of Luzon, north of the archipelago.
Percibal Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid, was killed at the age of 67 on the night of October 3, when two individuals on a motorcycle shot him dead while he was driving his vehicle to work north of Manila.
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Lapid hosted a late-night show with tens of thousands of followers called “Lapid Fire”, where he denounced cases of abuse of power and corruption scandals of politicians, members of the Police and the Army, and officials from ministries and public institutions.
The killing of the veteran reporter came after Lapid accused Bantag of accepting bribes from inmates and using the proceeds to build a mansion on the outskirts of Manila and purchase several high-end cars.
The case uncovered a series of abuses and irregularities at Bilibid prison in Manila, including torture and blackmailing of prisoners, bribery of inmates to live luxuriously inside the cells or the construction of a tunnel that connects the prison with the outside.
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Since 1986, 281 journalists have been murdered in the Philippines, and in 82% of cases the crimes remain unsolved, according to the Commission to Protect Journalists’ Global Impunity Index and data from the Philippine National Union of Journalists. (NUJP).
EFE
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