Marcos not convinced 'middleman' in Percy Lapid slay died of natural causes

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he is not convinced the inmate tagged as the middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid died of natural causes.

"The toxicology report came back and mukha talagang walang lason o walang gamot na ibinigay doon sa namatay. I'm still not satisfied that it was natural causes," Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview.

"There are ways to kill a person that do not show up in the medico legal, so tuloy-tuloy pa ang imbestigasyon," he added.

The President said that he has been monitoring the developments in the investigation into Lapid's killing, adding that he has no particular orders regarding the case as police officers know what to do.

"Well, I have to… I have been monitoring --- I talked to DOJ (chief) Remulla and DILG (chief) Abalos, three, four, five times a day, and each time we talk about this," Marcos said.

"We do not have any particular directives. The police know what to do. I’ll just get in the way. Imbestigahan ninyo nang mabuti. Alamin natin nang mabuti kung sinong behind this. Hanggang ngayon...hindi pa tayo nakakasiguro," he added.

(Investigate it properly. Let's identify who's behind this. Up to now, we are not sure yet.)

Marcos further stressed the need to unmask the mastermind of the crime and to identify the reason behind Lapid's killing.

"But more importantly, is to really trace saan nanggaling ito? Who gave the order? Sino nagbigay doon sa preso na orderin ang shooter na gawin ito at bakit (who gave the order to the shooter to kill Lapid and why)? That is what we are working on now," he said.

Authorities earlier identified the middleman as one Jun Villamor, an inmate at the New Bilibid Prison.

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) earlier said initial findings on Villamor's death show "no signs of physical external injuries which probably indicates a natural cause of death or no signs of foul play."

Noted forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun is set to perform a second and independent autopsy on Villamor's body.

Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, was shot dead while on his way home in Las Piñas City on October 3.

The existence of Jun Villamor (also reported as Cristito Villamor Palaña) was announced on October 20, the same day he was announced dead.

It was also the same day that Joel Escorial, the self-confessed gunman in the killing, was presented to the media following his surrender to the police.

It was Escorial who bared that he and his cohorts worked with a middleman inside the NBP in killing Lapid. —KBK/VBL, GMA News