Bantag hints at possible surrender – Remulla  

MANILA, Philippines — Former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag has signified his intention to surrender to authorities following the launch of a massive manhunt for him and his deputy Ricardo Zulueta, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said yesterday.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Bantag spoke with a Cabinet official about five days ago, asking whether authorities would allow him to surrender.

“He spoke to my colleague, one of my colleagues in the Cabinet, to say that he may wish to surrender. That’s why we’re not pushing for law enforcement to hurry up the process,” Remulla told reporters as he clarified that authorities would still need to serve the arrest warrant.

Remulla declined to disclose the Cabinet member’s name, but noted that the surrender was possible.

“I was just told by a colleague that he received a call from him (Bantag), asking if surrender was possible, and of course I said yes,” he said.

The DOJ believes that Bantag is still in the country, considering that a hold-departure order automatically went up as soon as the courts issued a warrant of arrest.

Asked if Zulueta also signified willingness to surrender, Remulla said he does not know.

Remulla said in a statement that if Bantag and Zulueta are truly innocent, then they should have shown themselves by now – a week after a Muntinlupa City court issued warrants against them in connection to the murder of Jun Villamor, a person deprived of liberty and who reportedly acted as middleman in the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid.

Both Bantag and Zulueta are facing a separate charge before a Las Piñas City court for the murder of Lapid.

“If they did not do anything wrong, it would be easy for them to go out, because they have confidence that they are innocent,” Remulla told reporters in Filipino during a chance interview yesterday at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

He said the two are currently in the Philippines and are being tracked.

“We have a lot of wanted persons in the country. Of course, they are prominent personalities, so they are on the top of the list,” Remulla stressed.

Lapid, whose real name was Percival Mabasa, was gunned down while on his way to work in October last year. Bantag and Zulueta were linked to the murder case.

The alleged middleman, Villamor, was found dead the same day self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial was presented to the media.

Escorial was transferred to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City yesterday after the Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Branch 254 granted the motion of Lt. Col. Wilfredo Sy of the NCRPO’s Regional Special Operations Group to have him moved to a more secure facility. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Emmanuel Tupas