MANILA, Philippines – The alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa died inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said on Thursday, October 20.

In an interview with reporters, Remulla said the 42-year-old person deprived of liberty (PDL) died at 3 pm on Tuesday, October 18, inside a prison hospital. The autopsy on the body is ongoing, according to Remulla.

“Nakita naming totoo nga, namatay, may namatay na tao (We’ve seen it, and it’s true that someone died, a person died), so, immediately, it’s the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and that autopsy that’s very important,” the DOJ chief told reporters.

Remulla said the PDL was rushed to the hospital because he was having difficulty breathing. 

“Ang reason nila, sinasabi nila (The reason they’re saying is) he was rushed to the hospital [at] 2:30 (pm), unable to breathe. They were trying to revive him. He was dead, so the autopsy is the best way to find out, scientific way to do it,” he said, adding that the body was already in a funeral home. 

Remulla also urged independent forensic experts to check the autopsy of the PDL’s body.

“And sabi ko nga sa kanila (And I told them), if there will be an independent witness like Dr. Raquel Fortun to look at the autopsy itself, so much the better. So we will open it to other medico legal experts to find out,” Remulla added.

New names

Lapid, the second journalist slain under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was gunned down in Las Piñas on October 3.

In a briefer released by the DOJ on Thursday, the agency released two new names involved in the killing: Crisanto Palana Villamor and Christopher Bacoto.

Earlier, self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial said there were six of them behind the killing, and the order came from the national penitentiary. He added they were paid P550,000.

Escorial surrendered to the authorities on Monday, October 17.

According to the DOJ briefer, Escorial confirmed it was Villamor who promised to pay them. Authorities have yet to confirm if Villamor was the PDL who died on Tuesday.

In an interview with ABS-CBN’s ANC on Thursday, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Police Lieutenant General Rhodel Sermonia said the person who ordered the killing of Lapid was inside the detention facility when he contacted Escorial.

Sermonia added that the alleged middleman is still in jail and undergoing trial, contrary to Remulla’s claim that he had died on October 18.

In a press briefing on Thursday night, PNP Southern Police District director Police Colonel Kirby John Brion Kraft said there are now two middlemen involved in the case. Kraft said one is the PDL in Bilibid, while the other is under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. 

The police added Escorial remains under their custody. 

Despite the lack of details on the latest developments in the case, the police and Interior chief Benhur Abalos did not entertain many questions during the briefing – just like when Abalos presented Escorial. 

The Bureau of Corrections, which oversees Bilibid, has yet to issue a statement on Remulla’s claim. – Rappler.com