[ad_1]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities on Monday charged a top prison official and an aide with murder, accusing them of masterminding the killing of a radio commentator, which they say shows how the country’s prison system is doing Become a “criminal organization.”
The complaints were filed against suspended Correctional Services Commissioner Gerald Bantag, Prison Security Officer Ricardo Zulueta and other key suspects in the Oct. 3 Percival Mabasa shooting. The reporter lashed out at Bantag and other officials for alleged corruption and other anomalous behavior.
Mabasa, who uses the broadcast name Percy Lapid, is one of the media workers recently killed in the Southeast Asian country, which is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
Three gang leaders are being held in the country’s largest prison under the control of Bantag, and they have been sent to find a gunman to kill, according to a joint statement read at a news conference by senior judges, the interior ministry and police officials. 550,000 pesos ($9,300) contract kills Mabassa.
After the killing, however, the gunman, identified by police as Joel Escorial, surrendered in fear after government officials offered a reward for his arrest. He then publicly identified a prisoner, Jun Villamor, whom he said was assigned by the detained gang leader to call him and arrange for Mabasa’s killing. The gang leader later killed Villamore inside the prison, allegedly suffocating him with a plastic bag on the orders of Bantag and Zulueta, officials said.
“Bantag’s motive for the murder is clear,” officials said in a statement.
They said Marbasa was shot for critical revelations about the warden, and Villamore was killed in a cover-up by a gang leader in the prison after being publicly identified by the gunman as an inmate who arranged to kill in the prison.
Bantag has denied any involvement in the killing. He and Zulueta were also charged with killing Villamore. No arrest warrants have been issued against them, officials said.
The investigation into the killings revealed “the unfortunate transformation of the pillar of justice — the pillar of punishment — into a deep, large-scale and systematic criminal organization,” officials said in the statement.
“This will be the reason for the government to undertake many reforms and strengthen existing mechanisms to ensure that something of this nature never happens again,” they said.
In addition to Bantag, Rapide was a strong critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who oversaw the deadly crackdown on illegal drugs. Duterte ended his turbulent six-year term in June.
The media watchdog condemned Mabassa’s killing, saying the attack highlighted the lethality of the Philippines against journalists.
Nearly 200 journalists have been killed in the country since the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, according to the journalists’ union. The group led a protest Tuesday night and called on the government to do more to stop the killings.
In 2009, members of a powerful political family and their associates shocked the world by killing 58 people, including 32 media workers, in an execution-style attack in southern Maguindanao province.
The mass killings linked to political competition illustrate the dangers journalists face in the Philippines, which has many unlicensed guns, a private army controlled by powerful clans and weak law enforcement, especially in rural areas.
(Disclaimer: This story was automatically generated from the syndicated feed; only images and titles may have been www.republicworld.com)
[ad_2]
Source link
