International
Philippine prisons director accused of ordering murder of journalist
The Philippines Bureau of Corrections Director-General, Gerald Bantag, has been accused of ordering the murder of a prominent journalist and government critic, Percival Mabasa, who was gunned down on October 3, sparking international alarm over the safety of journalists in the country.
The accusation was made on Monday by the Philippine police in a statement indicting the now suspended prisons chief in the murder of Mabasa also known as Percy Lapid on his programmes, by a gunman, Joel Escorial, in a Manila suburb.
The police said it has already filed murder complaints against Bantag and his deputy security officer, Ricardo Zulueta, following a confession by Escorial who surrendered to authorities last month out of fear for his safety after police broadcast his face from security footage.
READ ALSO:Over 110 people killed as deadly storm destroys southern Philippines
Bantag and Zulueta have also been accused of ordering the killing of Cristito Villamor Palana, one of the prison inmates who allegedly passed on the kill order to Escorial.
Palana was suffocated with a plastic bag by members of his own gang after Escorial identified him to police, the police said.
According to the police, Bantag allegedly ordered the murder of Mabasa following the “continued expose by the latter of the issues against the former on his show,” Eugene Javier of the National Bureau of Investigation told reporters.
Mabasa was an outspoken critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte as well as his successor Ferdinand Marcos’s policies and aides.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...