Three months since its preliminary hearings passed off, the case on the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid and alleged intermediary Jun Villamor has been submitted for decision, a prosecutor stated Wednesday.
“The cases are now submitted for resolution,” Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Charlie Guhit stated in an ambush interview.
According to Guhit, the camp of suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag has submitted his counter affidavit.
Bantag and former BuCor deputy safety officer Ricardo Zulueta have been tagged because the masterminds behind the killing of Lapid and Villamor. They are each going through two complaints of homicide.
“Respondent DG Bantag is represented by his counsel, Atty. Balisong. They submitted a counter affidavit ex abundanti ad cautelam, meaning with caution ang submission nila ng counter affidavit,” Guhit stated.
“For other respondents, no submission of counter affidavits, so similar to respondent DG Bantag, the cases are submitted for resolution,” he added.
Guhit stated that Atty. Julieta Puday, a counsel of Zulueta, requested copies of the subpoena, complaints, and supporting paperwork through the listening to.
He stated Zulueta was unable to submit his counter affidavit.
“By way of courtesy, we furnished her the complete set of the document for purposes of the preliminary investigation. So it’s up to them on how to act or proceed with their case,” he stated.
Guhit stated the individuals disadvantaged of liberty (PDLs) who’re respondents within the complaints submitted their affidavits as their counter affidavits.
Meanwhile, he stated Christopher Bacoto, one other alleged intermediary within the killing, additionally submitted a counter affidavit.
The prosecutor stated self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial has no counter affidavit besides the affidavit he executed in reference to the case.
Escorial’s alleged accomplices — Israel Dimaculangan, Edmund Dimaculangan, and a sure Orlando — additionally didn’t submit counter affidavits.
Question on DOJ jurisdiction
For their half, Atty. Rocky Balisong, the authorized counsel of Bantag, maintained that they’re nonetheless questioning the jurisdiction of the DOJ over the case.
“In other words, this will not be treated as abandoning our motion for inhibition because we’ll still push with it before the proper authorities. So ayun ang position namin ngayon [That’s our position for now],” he stated.
Balisong stated in addition they identified “several inconsistencies” within the testimonies of Escorial and the PDLs of their counter-affidavit.
“One of which is, syempre, ‘yung statement nung gunman na sinabi niya na as early as September 5 ay nag-usap na sila ni Villamor na ipapapatay si Percy Lapid. So ayun ang usapan nila,” he stated.
“And then here comes the statement of the two PDLs Gallicia and Labra stating that they came up with an agreement for the killing of Percy Lapid on the second week of September,” he added.
Lapid was shot lifeless in Las Piñas City on October 3 whereas Villamor died on the New Bilibid Prison. An post-mortem by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun confirmed the stays of Villamor to have a “history of asphyxia by plastic bag suffocation.” — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
