MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will look into claims of self-confessed gunman, Joel Escorial, that the order to assassinate broadcaster Percival Mabasa a.k.a. Percy Lapid came from an inmate of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
“The NBI will be conducting an independent investigation,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a radio interview on Thursday.
Remulla said Escorial may not need to go through preliminary investigation before being charged with the killing of the broadcaster.
“Sa tingin ko ho yung nag-confess ho niyan hindi na ho magpe-preliminary investigation [PI]. Ang magpapa-PI po dyan yung mga kasama po niya anim na kailangan pa hong dingin yung karapatan po nila to have a preliminary investigation (I think, the one who confessed need not to go through the preliminary investigation. Those who will undergo PI are his six accomplices. Their rights to have a preliminary investigation should be given),” he said.
Escorial, 38, surrendered to authorities out of fear for his safety after his photo was released in public and the bounty for his arrest increased to PHP6.5 million.
He confessed his part in the killing of Lapid on Oct. 3 at BF Resort Village in Las Piñas City, saying he and his cohorts, brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan, and a certain Orly, were offered PHP550,000 to kill Mabasa.
He claimed the order came from someone inside the prison but did not give the motives for killing the broadcaster.
Remulla discounted the possibility of placing Escorial under the witness protection program.
“He presented himself out of fear,” he said.
He, however, said placing a possible witness under the witness protection program may only come after a scrutiny by prosecutors and the courts.
Remulla said they are also looking into the possibility that Escorial was referring to a person deprived of liberty in a jail and not a convict serving time at the NBP under the Bureau of Corrections.
“(W)e are also looking at the angle na BJMP [Bureau of Jail Management and Penology] kasi yan po yung sinabi sa akin ni Sec. Abalos noong isang araw (that is what Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos told me) . The BJMP is under his jurisdiction kaya hindi na ako doon. Ang sa akin po Bilibid ang iniimbestigahan ko (so that is not mine. Mine is Bilibid which I am investigating),” he said. (PNA)
