Bantag breaks silence, dares Remulla to quit DOJ

Suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag on Friday called on Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to step down from office for allegedly bungling the investigation on the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid.

"Step down, Mr. Secretary, wala na kayong credibility [you have no credibility]," Bantag said on SMNI News, accusing Remulla of "conditioning" the mind of the public to pin him — Bantag — to Lapid's killing.

It was the first time Bantag spoke after murder complaints were filed against him and several others for the killing of Lapid and an alleged middleman in the slay plot, New Bilibid Prison inmate Cristito Villamor Palaña.

Bantag said Remulla is using Lapid's killing to cover the drug-related issue hounding his son, Juanito Remulla III, who was arrested in connection with the alleged importation of P1.3 million worth of kush or high-grade marijuana.

"As Secretary of Justice, kapag na-involve 'yung anak mo, dapat step down ka [when your son got involved in an illegal activity, then you must step down]," he said.

Bantag further accused Remulla of having political plans in 2025 and using the Department of Justice (DOJ) for exposure.

"Hindi mo kailangan ng pera, gusto mo lang tumaas ang pangalan mo [You don't need money, you just want to elevate your name]," Bantag said.

GMA News Online has reached out to Remulla as well as to DOJ spokesperson Atty. Mico Clavano for their comments regarding Bantag's accusations, but they have yet to respond as of posting time.

Remulla was set to fly to Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, to attend the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). 

In the SMNI video, Bantag denied that he got furious at Lapid for secretly taking videos of his properties in Laguna. He said he even does not believe that it was Lapid who took the videos but men connected with Remulla.

“Meron akong inutusan mag-imbestiga, tapos lumilitaw na 'yung sasakyan na yun ay connected si Secretary Boying Remulla,” he said, referring to two vehicles that were seen roaming near his house.

(I instructed someone to investigate and we found out that the vehicles were connected to Secretary Boying Remulla.)

On Wednesday, Remulla said they received information that Bantag skipped the September 9 graduation ceremony at the New Bilibid Prison because he got mad when he learned that Lapid went to his residence in Laguna to take pictures of his house and vehicles.

Bantag said he was suspecting that a “syndicate” and “narco-politics” were behind the push to pin him down in the Lapid case.

He also called on Remulla to resign because of his supposed lack of credibility and moral ascendancy, as he alleged the Justice Secretary of using marijuana and trying to gain control of drug lords in prison.

Bantag said Remulla also allegedly ordered the release of two persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) Engelberto Durano and Nonilo Arile.

Durano and Arile were among the PDLs who served as witnesses against then-Senator Leila de Lima for drug-related charges filed against her in 2017.  

Bantag also said Remulla ordered the National Bureau of Investigation, which is under the DOJ, to get a PDL under WPP identified as German Agojo, who was allegedly linked to Villamor and Lapid’s confessed gunman Joel Escorial.

According to Bantag, these three were involved in the death of a judge in Tagaytay City. He said Escorial and Villamor were men of Agojo. He said the three have an axe to grind against him.

“Kung totoo akong nagpapatay, uutusan ko yung galit sa akin? Yan ba ang mga uutusan ko? Kalokohan lahat," Bantag said.

(If I am the one who ordered to kill Lapid, why would I ask the people who are mad at me? Are they the ones I will give my orders to? All lies.)

Misguided betrayal

In response, the DOJ said that Bantag’s actions and allegations come from a “misguided sense of betrayal” and asked him not to “clutch at straws.”

“The Department of Justice understands the predicament of DG Bantag. His words and actions, no matter how personal and inappropriate, come from a misguided sense of betrayal,” Justice Department Spokesperson Mico Clavano said, reading the official statement of the agency.

“There’s only one issue at hand; that is the related murders of Percy Lapid and Jun Villamor. Let us not muddle the issue, let us not clutch at straws.”

Clavano added that the joint investigation of the NBI and the PNP used the “method of deduction” from a long list of politicians, government officials, and big names.

There were initially 160 persons of interest identified by the PNP in the Lapid case.

“However, from all the evidence collected so far, the sworn statements of the PDLs, ballistic analysis, CCTV footage, and all those other physical evidence gathered to boost the credibility of the statements, they all pointed to the respondents as perpetrators of the murder,” he said.

Clavano, borrowing the words of Remulla, said they hoped that the evidence could point to drug syndicates as the perpetrators.

"It was not good news when the evidence started to point to the respondents. But given the totality of circumstances, the PNP and the NBI had to stick to the evidence at hand," he said.

Clavano said there was a proper forum and time "to thresh it all out."

Meanwhile, Clavnao said it was Remulla who had insisted that Bantag remain BuCor chief under the Marcos administration.

“DG Bantag claims that when the new administration entered, he tendered a courtesy resignation. However, it was Secretary Remulla that showed his outright support and insisted that the Director General remain in his post under this new leadership,” he said. —Joviland Rita/Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK/DVM, GMA Integrated News