Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. has called on former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and former BuCor Deputy Officer Ricardo Zulueta, who were declared fugitives, to surrender to authorities after warrants of arrest were issued against them.
The Regional Trial Courts of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa had issued the warrants against Bantag and Zulueta in connection with the deaths of broadcaster Percy Lapid and the alleged middleman in the killing, Jun Villamor.
Manhunt operations are on in Bulacan and Caloocan for Bantag and Zulueta, with police saying the warrants are not considered served unless they were delivered to the concerned individuals in person.
Azurin made the call as Bantag and Zulueta are now considered by law enforcement authorities as fugitives. The PNP chief said anyone who has not surrendered amid an existing warrant of arrest could already be considered as such.
“I already offered that to him when he was relieved from the Bureau of Corrections, if he wanted to have his own security, of his own choice, the PNP was willing to provide,” Azurin told reporters Monday.
According to Azurin, Bantag and Zulueta have not sent any surrender feelers as of yet.
On Sunday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla knows where Bantag can be found, after the PNP deployed tracker teams to arrest the former Bureau of Corrections director charged with plotting the death of Lapid and killing an inmate involved in the assassination.
Remulla revealed this during an interview on One News after a Las Pinas court issued arrest warrants against Bantag and Zulueta, both of whom are facing non-bailable murder charges over the death of New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmate Villamor.
“We have a general idea of where he is,” Remulla said. “We’ve been following his movements for the past few weeks, but I haven’t spoken to those doing that.”
“Of course, it’s our job to know where the person may be before, because that’s part of the job of the Department of Justice,” he added.
Aside from Bantag, Remulla said Zulueta is also “being followed by our people.”
“We’ve been trying to keep track of his movements, so we have a general idea of his location,” he said.
Bantag last year declared he would not surrender in the event a warrant for his arrest be issued should Remulla remain Justice secretary.