SUBPOENA ERROR DELAYS LAPID CASE INVESTIGATION
THE Department of Justice (DoJ) panel of prosecutors has reset the preliminary investigation of the Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa murder case to December 5 because of an error in the subpoena issued to suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag.
Bantag’s lawyer Rocky Thomas Balisong said the subpoena listed his client’s middle name as “Soriano” instead of “Quitaleg.”
Bantag did not appear in the initial probe because technically, the subpoena was issued to a different person, Balisong said.
Gerald Bantag y Soriano “is different from DG (Director General) Gerald Bantag y Quitaleg,” Balisong told reporters.
The error was promptly corrected by the prosecutors, who gave Bantag 10 days to submit his counter-affidavit.
Balisong added that Bantag might virtually attend the hearing via Zoom on December 5.
The other prime suspect, Bantag’s deputy at BuCor, Ricardo Zulueta, was also a no-show on Wednesday, nor was he represented by counsel.
Lapid’s younger brother, Roy Mabasa, said on Wednesday that the Philippine National
Police (PNP) has a lead on Zulueta’s whereabouts.
Zulueta has not reported to the National Bilibid Prison since the Lapid case broke out.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has said Zulueta has been Bantag’s close aide from the time Bantag was warden of the Caloocan City jail.
“Zulueta can be described as his right hand man. What he does was ordered by his boss,” he said.
There were rumors that Zulueta is already dead, but Remulla said that the non-appearance of Zulueta will not affect the Lapid case.
“A conspiracy is a conspiracy and the act of one is the act of all,” he said.
The cases filed against Bantag, Zulueta and several others were consolidated with the murder charges filed against self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial and three of his accomplices.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and PNP filed two cases of murder against Bantag and several others.
Charged with the murder of Lapid were Bantag, Zulueta, and convicts Denver Batungbakal Mayores, Alvin Cornista Labra, Aldrin Miscosa Galicia and Alfie Penaredonda. Charged with the murder of Villamor Bantag, Zulueta and convicts Alvin Cornista Labra, Aldrin Micosa Galicia, Mario Germones Alvarez and Joseph Medel Georfo.
Mabasa said the NBI will submit more evidence that will bolster the cases against Bantag and his co-respondents.
“We will hear additional [pieces of evidence] from the NBI about this case in the coming days,” Mabasa said in an interview. The additional evidence involves the alleged second middleman in Lapid murder, Christopher “Jeric Sandoval” Bacoto.
“We did not get any update from the other suspects still at-large but those that will be submitted by the NBI in the coming days will include pieces of evidence that will be a great help in the case,” Mabasa said.
The NBI has also identified the people who were making threats against the Mabasa family, he said.
Mabasa declined to identify the source of the threats.
“I’ll just let the NBI tell you in the future who these persons are,” he said.
He noted that the threats have started to wane.
Reacting to the delay in the preliminary probe, Mabasa said there is no rush in seeking justice for his brother.
“That is part of seeking justice, that there will be delays, but we remain hopeful. Our prosecutors were fair,” he said.
Mabasa said he spotted the error in the subpoena a few days ago. “A listener of Ka Percy pointed it out to me, saying there could be a problem. So it was clarified today,” he said.
In the first case in the Mabasa murder filed on October 18, named as respondents were Escorial, Bacoto, brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, and a person identified only as “Orly” or “Orlando.”