Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. on Monday said he’s still not sure that the “middleman” who allegedly gave the order to kill broadcaster Percival Mabasa, also known as Percy Lapid, died in his sleep inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP).
Azurin lamented inmate Crisanto Villamor, 42, whom self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial said gave the order to kill Lapid, could have led police investigators as to who is the real mastermind behind the hit on Mabasa, who was gunned down on October 3 in Las Piñas City.
“It’s too much of [a coincidence]. It’s an unfortunate incident but the timing is questionable,” Azurin told reporters during a news briefing at Camp Crame.
He expressed doubts over the circumstances surrounding Villamor’s sudden death, which reportedly occurred while he as asleep at noontime.
“Based on initial report, Villamor died while he was sleeping or bangungot wasn’t it? I said, how could you have ‘nightmares’ at noon, honestly, right? Because when I was a captain, I had been entering the NBP and I saw the situation there that you can’t sleep at noon because it’s so hot and crowded,” he said in Filipino.
A day after Escorial surrendered on October 17, Villamor died inside his detention facility at the NBP and a number of people are eyeing foul play behind his sudden death.
Azurin himself is questioning the timing of the death of Villamor: “We were almost there, isn’t it? We have the triggerman, we have the pieces of evidence and we were almost there to talk to the middleman and this happened.”
“I don’t know if that was accidental because he was the person we were looking for, we wanted to talk to,” he stressed.
He, however, said that they would still have to wait for the investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Azurin said he could not help but criticize NBP for the lack of sense of urgency on a case that is already being talked about nationwide.
“Due to the exigency and urgency of the situation, we immediately coordinated with the NBP and they said there was no inmate of that specific name,” said Azurin.
“What they should have done is to segregate and secure all the inmates bearing the ‘Villamor’ surname. But what happened was that we were not furnished with the right information,” he explained.
Azurin also revealed that 160 personalities that include politicians, police, military and even suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Director General Gerald Bantag are being considered as persons on interest in the case.
Azurin said these personalities were among those that were criticized by Lapid in his hard-hitting radio program “Lapid Fire.”
“I was briefed that since 2021 there are 600 postings of Ka Percy on various issues and out of the 600 plus those he tackled in his program, there are almost 160 different personalities, politicians, military, police, etc. So we are looking at this as the probable personalities involved with the death of Percy,” said Azurin.
“The 160 people I mentioned who are involved in issues discussed by Sir Percy Lapid in his program are all persons of interest,” he said.
According to Azurin, they are still determining who among these personalities were most frequently discussed in Lapid’s program.
When asked if these personalities include Bantag, Azurin said, “Oo, kasama siya. [Yes, he is included].”
Azurin confirmed that Bantag was among those criticized by Lapid, especially over the issue of the series of deaths of inmates.
“But we have to really establish the motive that led to the killing of Percy Lapid,” said Azurin.
DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla following Villamor’s death suspended Bantag.
The justice chief also confirmed that Bantag is now a person of interest in relation to Lapid’s killing.
In an interview, Remulla told reporters that Bantag is being investigated for possible reckless imprudence following the death Villamor who was identified by self-confessed gunman Escorial.
“Well, he is a person of interest. Definitely, he is a person of interest at least for the reckless imprudence that is already being sought,” Remulla said.
Prior to this, Mabasa family’s lawyer Berteni Causing was interviewed during the preliminary investigation of the murder case filed against Escorial and three others at the DOJ where he disclosed that their camp is “looking at the possibility of filing reckless imprudence resulting in murder” against Bantag.
Causing said Bantag’s possible culpability for reckless imprudence stemmed from his failure to control the entry of cellular phones inside the NBP in Muntinlupa.
“If there is no [reckless] imprudence, inmates cannot sneak inside cellular phones,” Causing said.
Bantag was placed under 90-day preventive suspension last week while investigation is ongoing on the still unexplained death of Bilibid inmate Jun Villamor, who was earlier identified by Escorial as Crisanto Palana Villamor.
But, Remulla said Jun and Crisanto are one and the same person.
Case not closed–Drilon
Far from being solved, Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon, a former justice secretary, challenged claims contending the Lapid murder case is a closed case.
“Far from solved,” Drilon declared as he asserted that “the case still stands on thin ice without any evidence corroborating the testimony of the self-confessed gunman.”
The opposition leader asserted the prosecution must “validate the confessions of self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial with corroborative evidence.”
“This is crucial because the case cannot stand on the testimony alone of the gunman,” said Drilon, airing concerns “the case for the prosecution still stands on thin ice.”
In a separate statement, the former Justice Secretary, who prosecuted a number of high profile and gruesome murder cases in the 90s before turning lawmaker, noted “the death of the middleman a few days after self-confessed gunman Escorial named him [Crisanto Villamor Jr.] in his extrajudicial affidavit, finding this to be “suspicious and disturbing evidence of a wider conspiracy.”
“Who is the mastermind? Is there a wider conspiracy?” Drilon asked.
He added: “Who ordered the middleman to kill Percy Lapid? This has to be established and the mastermind be brought to justice before we can say that it is a closed case.”
Instead, Drilon prodded the PNP to go deeper in unmasking the brains behind the murder of Lapid.
It can be recalled that Drilon prosecuted a number of high-profile crimes from the ’90s, such as the “Chop-Chop Lady,” “Sarmenta Rape Case,” “Hultman-Chapman” murder case, and the Beebom and Cochise murder case, among others.
The senator reminded prosecutors should not rely solely on the testimony of Escorial as he raised the danger of Escorial recanting his testimony.
“Suppose he recants, what happens?” asked Drilon, adding, “The prosecution’s case will fall into pieces. The narration of the gunman therefore must be viewed with caution.”
At the same time, he asserted the need for the police and the prosecution to gather evidence that can corroborate the gunman’s statement.
Moreover, Drilon believed there is “no need” for a Senate investigation at this point, airing an appeal “to my former colleagues to let the PNP do their job.”
“I do not know what a Senate investigation can do at this point. Let’s allow the police to finish the investigation. I am not yet convinced that the PNP is not doing its job, but it has to do more” Drilon added.