BY JOEL CALAMBA ESCOL, Managing Editor
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told the media on Friday that he would elevate Bantag’s case to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr, and ask him (Marcos) to dismiss the beleaguered Bucor chief.
When asked by the media when he would meet the president and tell him about his plans, he answered “When I have the chance. It’s not a very urgent matter,” Remulla said.
Bureau of Corrections Chief Gen Gerald Bantag was pinned down recently as the one who allegedly masterminded the killings of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid and Jun Villamor, the reported middleman who was also gunned down after he was tagged by Lapid’s killer Joel Escorial.
The DOJ secretary also commented on the excavation inside the Bilibid that did not get the approval from then President Rodrigo Duterte and then DOJ secretary Menardo Guevarra. He said this is invalid.
But Gen Bantag also defended the excavation and said it was a swimming pool that Bucor is planning to have. Bantag said it was a joint venture project from a private firm.
Right now, Remulla said, the suspended Bucor chief is under preventive suspension, and this gives him a hold departure order. Thus, the Bucor chief is not allowed to travel without a clearance from the government.
Cover Up story
Earlier, Bucor Chief General Gerald Bantag has accused Remulla of reportedly “using” him to cover up his son’s arrest.
The beleaguered and suspended Bucor chief said in a television interview that Remulla kept on dropping bombshells on him to sustain his supposed cover up of his son’s update after he was arrested for drugs.
Instead, he named a certain drug lord German Agojo to be behind the killing of mediaman Percy Lapid. He said Agojo was reportedly the boss of self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial.
“Attention Lapid family, ‘yung pumatay po kay Percy Lapid ay tauhan nitong Agojo … Anong papel niya sa buhay? Tauhan niya daw ‘yung pumatay na si Escorial at Villamor na kaibigan niya, tauhan nitong si Agojo. Nakikita ninyo ba ang koneksyon? Ito ba pag-uutusan ko ba ito?” the Bucor chief told a local TV station in Davao.
Bantag, however, did not give any details why Agojo allegedly ordered the killing of the radioman
“Bakit ko papatayin ‘yung tao, dahil lang doon sa walang kuwentang hindi naman sa akin,” he said, referring to an exposé of Lapid involving him and the vehicles and properties he allegedly own.
