NEWS
Lapid slay: Police under intense pressure to capture Bantag as cohort dies
3/17/24, 12:59 PM
The reported death of former Bureau of Corrections Deputy Security Officer Ricardo Zulueta, a principal accused in the murder of broadcaster Percy Lapid, has raised public interest into the whereabouts of alleged mastermind former BuCOR Director General Gerald Bantag.
The Department of Justice has dangled a PHP2 million for information that could lead to the arrest of Bantag. Another PHP1 million has been raised for Zulueta’s capture.
Observers noted that since it was Zulueta’s brother, who rushed him to the Bataan Peninsula Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, suspicions were raised that there was really little effort by authorities to arrest him.
Bantag and Zulueta have never been placed under police custody since murder charges were filed against them October last year.
They were charged as “principals by inducement” in the deaths of Lapid and Cristito Villamor Palaña, who had been identified by self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial as the one who brokered the contract for Lapid’s murder.
As Zulueta’s name surfaced anew in public following his reported death, netizens have started asking where Bantag is, or if there were really efforts to have both of them hunted and arrested by authorities.
Journalist Roy Mabasa, younger brother of the slain broadcaster, has sought a deeper investigation into death of Zulueta, who allegedly suffered a fatal heart attack on Friday (March 15).
“We would like the PNP to ascertain the real cause of his death since he was originally tagged as one of the masterminds in the killing of Percy Lapid,” he said.
Mabasa suggested an independent autopsy on the remains of Zulueta.
The conspiracy to assassinate Mabasa sparked an investigation into the country’s jail system since most of the players involved in the murder were either jail officials like Bantag and Zulueta and prisoners like Escorial and Palaña.
Bantag was an appointee of former President Rodrigo Duterte who is also under investigation by international criminal probers over the killing of thousands of individuals linked by the police to drugs.
Meanwhile, following an order from Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, the National Bureau of Investigation has started investigating the death of Zulueta.
“The NBI was able to get photographs and fingerprints (of Zulueta) with the consent of the wife,” said Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV.