Bilibid inmate gets up to 8 years over Percy Lapid slay

A Las Piñas regional trial court sentenced an inmate in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) involved in the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid to up to eight years in prison, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ said Denver Mayores, a person deprived of liberty (PDL) on Monday pleaded guilty to being an accessory in Lapid’s murder.

“Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Judge Harold Huliganga pronounced the sentence, acknowledging Mayores’ conspiracy with former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag and DSO (Directorate for Security and Operations) Ricardo Zulueta in the murder of Lapid,” the DOJ said in a statement.

Mayores, a former inmate at the Iwahig Penal Colony, is known as an aide to Bantag, who is currently in hiding. The DOJ has announced rewards for information that would lead to his and Zulueta's arrests.

Authorities previously said there was a clear line of communication from Bantag and Zulueta to Mayores, then Mayores to PDL Alvin Labra, and Labra who coordinated with Aldrin Galicia.

Galicia allegedly orchestrated and executed the killing of Lapid through his gang members and their contacts outside the NBP, leading to the participation of self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial and his accomplices.

In June, a Las Piñas court sentenced Labra and Galicia after they pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of being accessories.

Meanwhile, the DOJ said Escorial is seeking to reduce his sentence and be transferred to Abuyog prison in Leyte before making his plea, which is expected in February 2024.

“DOJ prosecutors are currently evaluating the potential impact of reducing Escorial’s charges from murder to homicide,” it said. 

Lapid, a vocal critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men inside his car in Las Pinas City on October 3, 2022.

An alleged middleman in Lapid's killing, Jun Villamor, also died at the NBP on October 18.
An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun on Villamor's remains revealed a “history of asphyxia by plastic bag suffocation.”

Bantag has repeatedly denied involvement in the killings.

The DOJ previously said it is offering P2 million for information that will lead to the arrest and prosecution of Bantag and P1 million that will lead to the same for Zulueta.—RF, GMA Integrated News